bReview: Serebii
Thursday 10 April 2025 at Double Whammy
Words by Thomas Gavaghan
Photography by Amanda Li
There is a special satisfaction felt when the mood of a new record reflects the season of it's release. Autumn has arrived in Tāmaki Makaurau and so has Dime, the latest album from the multifaceted Serebii. String-laden, with folk fused neo-soul vocals, Dime is a pensive reflection by Callum Mower. Melancholic but optimistic in equal measure, suggesting that change could in fact be a positive thing, and it is that tone Serebii captures - providing a soundscape for the reacquaintance of your big coat and the lengthening of night. Tonight, Serebii conclude their album release tour of Aotearoa at Double Whammy, with a full band accompaniment that showcased the new material as it should be heard - in it's full depth. It’s full feeling.
The Thursday night bill was kicked off by Evie Bamford who courted us through her stories of estranged friendship, love and misinterpreted references to everyone's favorite Auckland bakery. Clean guitar with occasional synth and trumpet backing to supplement her strong songwriting.
(Evie Bamford opening for Serebii at Double Whammy / Photo: Amanda Li)
Hun Lynch followed with obscure but intriguing numbers and an incredible delivery range from soaring RnB to spoken word. Donning the best jacket of the evening, her grandmothers, she sings “My Nana should be on sizable wages, for the hours she spent praying for me”.
(Hun Lynch opening for Serebii at Double Whammy / Photo: Amanda Li)
Serebii settle themselves on the stage, and they fill it, such the number of talented contributors to tonight's performance. Everyone's close. It's cosy. It's the ideal setting to experience these intimate songs.
Followers of Callum’s music will be familiar with his work with Arjuna Oakes – the pair often collaborating out of Wellington’s jazz scene and with whom Serebii produced and supplied the beats. Serebii's first album Inside is a lo-fi, jazz-rooted record that feels like a natural progression from those earlier collaborations, only with his own vocal front and center. The set opens with two songs from this previous work, including Really You - a track seemingly designed for collective head-nodding.
Into the new material and the mano percussion on Goji gives a bossa nova feel and an upbeat acceptance to being used by a significant other - “Despite taking what you need and then leaving, for a while I’m still here”. Seeing Serebii and band in full flow is impressive.
(Serebii at Double Whammy / Photo: Amanda Li)
A standout from Dime is the meandering Verrans Corner which begins as a melancholic pop melody only to switch unpredictably but eloquently twice with a lovely string bridge, played out on the cello tonight. The keys pulse enticing you in further only to refrain and subside just before you get carried away. Another favourite, Might As Well Be Watching is a soft late-night song for lovers which swells even broader in this live ensemble with gorgeous saxophone.
Winding things down further Assembly is the reflective end to the album and aptly closes the night with a yearning to reclaim what is no longer. “I want it back, is it all I want now?” repeat Serebii in a questioning post-break up lament to the universe. We in the crowd know what it is we want - simply, a couple more hours of this show in the Whammy basement, underneath Karangahape Road.
95bFM 
