Hemi Hemingway has returned with his first material in nearly two years, the moody pop affair (To Be) Without You.
Described on Bandcamp as “a lament about a marriage falling apart”, it’s a brooding, melancholic track with more synthesized elements than his previous work and ably finished off with a dash of saxophone toward the outro.
The New Zealander behind the project, Shaun Blackwell, was based in London when he released his 2023 debut Strangers Again but has since relocated home to Wellington.
He’s nonetheless remained with Swedish label PNKSLM, who are set to release his second full-length in 2026.
(To Be) Without You was inspired by a trip Hemingway took to Greece in 2022, and the accompanying music video wears those influences on its sleeve.
In the narrative clip – directed by Adam Joseph Browne – he is haunted by an apparition but nonetheless finds the time to bust out some dance moves.