Following her recent beguiling release ‘Sugar Plum’, New Zealand artist Rousseau continues her unfiltered, engrossing look at human relationships with her new track ‘Familiar’. Again, excitingly, there are thick layers of thrillingly good alt-pop here arranged over the kind of punchy, insightful lyrics that have seen Rousseau become an emerging name across the tastemaker spectrum.

The second release from her upcoming debut EP “hello, i know you’re busy”, ‘Familiar’ again recalls conscious, complex artists like Banks, Lykke Li, and Fiona Apple; again she offers a polished, whip-smart slice of confessional dark pop.

Speaking on the track, Rousseau states: “It’s about having an instant connection with a stranger, or someone you’ve just met; the excitement, the curiosity, the nervousness.  It’s like there’s something hanging there in the space between you, like a spider web of shared memories, almost tangible but just out of sight. Or maybe it’s an invisible mirror…”

Rousseau’s relationship with songwriting began when a neighbour introduced her to Lauryn Hill, OutKast, and the acoustic guitar; it led to her winning national recognition for her songwriting and musicianship in high school, before studying economics and philosophy at university.

Rousseau reveals another slice of her intriguing backstory in the lead up to her debut EP to be released in early 2017. ‘Familiar’ is another considered, alluring statement of intent from a dark-pop anti-heroine marking herself out. She’s arrived just in time.