‘Abbie’ ready to release album
It takes a special person to admit they draw inspiration from watching Whitney Houston music videos but for Abbey Harker-ferguson it’s proved to be time well invested.
The former Tokoroa woman moved to Auckland a few years ago to pursue a career in music and recently released her debut single, Million, with the album, Lost/found, due for release on June 30.
‘‘I have had a love for strong female vocals. I recall watching recorded video tapes of Whitney and being in awe of this magical lady.
‘‘Growing up I listened to many different types of music and found that I had a soft spot for blues, soul and the genuine way in which these songs managed to create and share a moment.’’
The debut single, Million, released on June 10. People will remember the singer’s voice as a finalist in Maori Television’s Homai Te Pakipaki about four years ago.
But the days of singing karaoke are over.
The 28-year-old has refined her sound which combines soulful music with electronic pop beats.
And for the purposes of her musical career, she goes by the single name, Abbie.
The love song Million is a snapshot of the album which will include some ‘‘soulful, beautiful Ma¯ ori soundtracks’’ likely to stand out as a feature of the collection.
Harker-ferguson says she’s not Ma¯ ori — her family ties are with Portugal — but she’s enjoyed learned more about Ma¯ ori culture since moving to Auckland and working with the Manukau Urban Maori Authority.
‘‘I think that the Ma¯ ori language is beautiful and would love to hear more of this on the radio. I hope that when people hear these [Ma¯ori] songs on the new album, they will understand that they came from a good place.
‘‘Sitting down to write a song in Ma¯ ori and actually managing to do so was a real achievement for me. Something that I am very proud of.’’
Harker-ferguson says she wrote around 40 songs for the new record and is already planning a second album.
‘‘Over the next year I’m going to aim to write a couple of songs per week. I hope to have 100 songs written by this time next year.