25 September 2026
Ha the Unclear have released 80s NZ pub-rock throwback 'The Cold', the second single from their forthcoming EP Astigmatic! – due out 16 October. It follows lead single 'Cumberland St (Astigmatic)', which was released on 11 September.
For 'The Cold', the creative process is akin to gold panning in what must certainly be Gabriel’s Gully or a braided Central Otago river, while a meta backing vocal refrain exclaims “the story that I tell myself / the wood with which I build my house.”
Vocalist Michael Cathro elaborates:
"The Cold came through a bit of frustration with the creative process. I was probably overcomplicating things and this was me ripping the lid off to get the sauce out. We demoed it together at Paul’s house and it was fun yelling the guitar riff at each other and the song became more and more party."
Recorded with award-winning producer and engineer Tom Healy at his Tāmaki Makaurau | Auckland studio, Astigmatic! is the band's first new material since they released their amalgam LP A Kingdom in a Cul-de-Sac in 2024 on Think Zik!/Virgin. That release resulted in the band playing their debut European headline show, which saw them warmly received by French press and radio, including FIP – which described the record as "a kaleidoscopic and surreal pop journey."
Since forming in 2014, Ha the Unclear have built a loyal following internationally and in Aotearoa; broken into the Top 10 on the Aotearoa Albums Chart; been longlisted twice for the APRA Silver Scroll; and have supported The Shins and toured with Courtney Barnettand The Dandy Warhols.
After showcasing at MaMA Festival and signing to a Paris-based imprint, the band made their European debut in 2024 with a headline Paris show at Supersonic, as well as dates supporting Lime Garden (Paris) and Feldup (Nantes). A Kingdom in a Cul-de-Sac was praised by Le Figaro, Libération, Télérama, Rock & Folk and Rolling Stone France, with rotation on France Inter, FIP and Europe 2.
Astigmatic! is out 16 October and available to pre-order via Bandcamp. It will be followed by a full LP in 2027.
Tracklist:
Earth Grazer
The Good Times Always End In Tears
Mountains We've Made
MEDIA ON HA THE UNCLEAR:
"Spontaneous, electrifying and kind." – Rolling Stone France
"Never encumbered by any pretence." – Le Figaro
"Hook-laden, vocally rich." – Rolling Stone AU/NZ
"Cheerfully oblivious but secretly smart" – RNZ
"Infectious pop music with lyrics that are as quirky as they are heartfelt. Irresistible." – François Gorin (Télérama) (Translated)
Astigmatic! Tour
6 November – Crown Hotel – Ōtepoti | Dunedin
13 November – Whammy – Tāmaki Makaurau | Auckland
14 November – Space Academy – Ōtautahi | Christchurch
4 December – Meow – Pōneke | Wellington
Tickets available here
CREDIT: JENNA TODD
PRESS KIT & ARTWORK
ARTIST BIO
Ha the Unclear are a Tāmaki Makaurau | Auckland-based indie-rock, existential-pop group from Ōtepoti | Dunedin. Vocalist and songwriter Michael Cathro began the whole shebang with a string of solo bedroom EPs released under the pseudonym Baraka and the Finish Hims. After deciding to develop it into a live project, Cathro’s brother Paul joined on bass along with Ben Sargeant on drums, performing together under the name Brown. With guitarist Theodore Francis soon joining the fold, the project took shape when the band eventually moved to Tāmaki, becoming Ha the Unclear – an awkward name that rings out like a sardonic burst, inspired by reading the existentialists while working a call centre job: "I’d find myself laughing out loud when confronted with existential questions and the breakdown of meaning, and then pulling myself together to help someone lodge an insurance claim." Right. The songs, for their part, become crystal clear as the band unpins them like grenades on stage, opening for indie legends like The Shins, Courtney Barnett, The Dandy Warhols or The Wombats – the latest batch of tunes penned mostly from a room on the Ōtepoti wharf “among the songs of seabirds”, where Cathro inhabited a shared creative space before returning to Tāmaki.
In 2024, the band released their amalgam album A Kingdom in a Cul-de-Sac (Think Zik!/Virgin). This resulted in the band playing their debut European headline show – current drummer Stu Harwood behind the kit – where they were received warmly by French press and radio, described fittingly by FIP as "a kaleidoscopic and surreal pop journey." On their new EP Astigmatic!, the first release since, the band showcases their combination of post-punk nonchalance and emotional sensitivity across five new songs. The lead single 'Cumberland Street (Astigmatic)' extols the joy of hitting a run of green lights on the titular Ōtepoti street. The cry of "Astigmatic!" – for which the EP is named – serves as a central optical metaphor; the line "staring at the stars, no? They were streetlights leaking in a row" comes, Cathro says, from "a very early memory of pointing out stars to my parents on a Dunedin evening, not realising they were just streetlights on the opposite hill." While 'The Good Times Always End in Tears' is a nostalgia-tinged goodbye-for-now to the old hometown, levity abounds in songs like 'Earth Grazer', a jittery pop number where a missed encounter devolves into a reflection on existential brevity. In 80s Kiwi pub-rock throwback 'The Cold', the creative process is akin to gold panning in what must certainly be Gabriel’s Gully or a braided Central Otago river, while a meta backing vocal refrain exclaims “the story that I tell myself / the wood with which I build my house.” Whatever that story is, Astigmatic! is a house with lives lived in it.
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