Nadia Reid (born 23 August 1991) is a New Zealand singer-songwriter and guitarist from Port Chalmers, Dunedin. She began releasing music in the early 2010s and released her debut studio album, Listen to Formation, Look for the Signs, in 2014. She has since released three further studio albums: Preservation (2017), Out of My Province (2020), and Enter Now Brightness (2025). She has toured in Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand, has performed with the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra, and has appeared on Later… with Jools Holland.
Early life Nadia grew up in Port Chalmers, Dunedin, and was educated at Logan Park High School and Queen's High School.
She began playing the guitar aged 14, winning the best female musician award in New Zealand's national youth music event Smokefreerockquest. In 2009, she was a member of the Queen's madrigal choir which won the New Zealand Choral Federation Millennium Trophy (Otago) for secondary school choirs.
Career
Early career At the age of 18, Reid moved to Christchurch, where she released several EPs and began performing her original songs. As opportunities to perform nationally became available, she moved to Auckland and later Wellington.
2014–2016: Crowdfunding and release of debut album Reid had connections to Lyttelton-based producer Ben Edwards and was encouraged to make her first full-length album. Lacking startup capital, she set up a PledgeMe campaign which was given a significant boost after she opened a show for Tiny Ruins. She recorded Listen to Formation, Look for the Signs at Edwards' Sitting Rooms Studios.
In early 2015, Reid was signed to Australian indie label Spunk Records and Listen to Formation, Look for the Signs was released officially in Australia and New Zealand. It received positive reviews,, and in 2016 was nominated for a Tui award for best folk album, and for the 2016 Taite Music Prize. After playing shows in Australia, Reid returned home to Port Chalmers and began an English Degree at the University of Otago.
Listen to Formation, Look for the Signs was licensed for UK, US and European release, and supported by Reid's first tour of the UK and Europe in 2016.
2017–2019: Preservation and international touring Before touring in support of Listen to Formation, Look for the Signs, Reid returned to the Sitting Room studio in Lyttelton with producer Ben Edwards and her backing band to record her second album, Preservation. The album was released on 3 March 2017 through Spunk! and Basin Rock. It received positive reviews, with Mojo describing it as "one of the year's landmark releases", and was one of eight finalists for the 2018 Taite Music Prize.The Guardian described her live performance around this period as "an understated, wise guide through uncertain territory", while Revue called her music "allegorical and often brutally honest".
Following the release of Preservation, Reid undertook extensive touring in Europe and the United Kingdom. The album received further international recognition at the end of 2017, when Mojo Magazine ranked it number two on its list of the 50 best albums of the year, behind LCD Soundsystem's American Dream. The ranking was subsequently noted in a 2018 interview with Reid published by the University of Otago's Critic magazine. Reid also appeared on the BBC television programme Later... with Jools Holland and performed with the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra during this period.
2020–2023: Out of My Province and the COVID-19 pandemic
Reid's third studio album, Out of My Province, was released on 6 March 2020 through Spacebomb Records internationally and Slow Time Records in New Zealand. The album was recorded in 2018 at Spacebomb Studios in Richmond, Virginia, with Trey Pollard as producer and Matthew E. White and Sam Taylor as co-producers. It was Reid's first album for Spacebomb and featured musicians from the Spacebomb collective alongside members of her New Zealand band.
The release coincided with the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Reid had planned an international tour, including performances in the United States, but the subsequent cancellation of live events and New Zealand's border restrictions substantially disrupted her plans. She remained in New Zealand during the period of border restrictions and continued to perform domestically where possible.
In July 2022, Reid performed with NZTrio at Old St Paul's in Wellington. The performances were subsequently released as the live album Live at Old St Paul's (with NZTrio).
2024–present: Enter Now Brightness, relocation to the United Kingdom, and Live at Old St Paul's
Reid subsequently relocated to Manchester, England, with her family. Reid described the preceding period, which had encompassed the COVID-19 restrictions, motherhood and the move overseas, as a period of reassessment that influenced the writing of her fourth album.
In October 2024, Reid announced her signing to Chrysalis Records with the single "Changed Unchained", followed by details of her fourth studio album.
Reid's fourth studio album, Enter Now Brightness, was released on 7 February 2025 by Chrysalis Records and Slow Time Records. The album was recorded between 2021 and 2023 at Chicks Hotel in Dunedin and The Lab in Auckland, and was produced by Tom Healy with additional production from Sam Taylor. Reid's longtime collaborators Sam Taylor, Richie Pickard and Joe McCallum contributed to the album, alongside Healy and other musicians.
Enter Now Brightness represented a change in Reid's approach to songwriting and performance. She placed greater emphasis on her voice and the contributions of the ensemble, and described the guitar increasingly as a songwriting tool rather than something she needed to play throughout a performance. The album's songs address themes including change, motherhood, home and heartbreak. The album received a mixed-to-positive critical reception; the Morning Star gave it three stars, noting Reid's continued shift away from her earlier folk sound.
Following the release of Enter Now Brightness, Reid undertook a UK and European headline tour in March 2025, followed by further shows in New Zealand and Australia in December 2025. Her subsequent live work included further performances with expanded instrumental arrangements.
In July 2022, ahead of recording Enter Now Brightness, Reid had toured New Zealand with the contemporary classical ensemble NZTrio, performing new arrangements of songs from her catalogue commissioned from composer Alex Taylor. A recording of one such performance, at Old St Paul's in Wellington, was later released as the live album Live at Old St Paul's (with NZTrio), Reid's first live album. It was issued as a Record Store Day exclusive on vinyl on 18 April 2026 through Chrysalis Records, with a wider digital release following on 25 September 2026. The album comprises ten previously unreleased live recordings spanning Reid's catalogue, reimagined with string arrangements, and includes covers of songs by Mazzy Star and New Zealand musician Mahinārangi Tocker.
To mark the album's digital release, Reid performed a series of "Live With Strings" shows across the United Kingdom in September and October 2026, reworking songs from across her catalogue with a two-piece string ensemble. Promotional material for these shows stated that Reid was working on material for her fifth studio album.
Awards and nominations
In 2017, Reid's first single from Preservation, "Richard", was one of five finalists for the APRA Silver Scroll Award, which recognises excellence in songwriting in New Zealand. The judging panel described the song as "a stand-out folk-rock gem with its wonderfully direct delivery, charting heartbreak and dissolution, through striking imagery".
At the 2017 New Zealand Music Awards, producer Ben Edwards won the award for Best Producer for his work on Preservation, while Reid was nominated for Best Solo Artist, Breakthrough Artist of the Year and Best Alternative Artist.
In 2018, Preservation was one of eight finalists for the Taite Music Prize. In the same year, Reid served on the nine-member judging panel for the APRA Silver Scroll Award.
In 2020, Reid was nominated for two Aotearoa Music Awards for her third album, Out of My Province: Album of the Year and Best Solo Artist. "Oh Canada", from the album, was also one of the five finalists for the 2020 APRA Silver Scroll Award.
In 2021, Out of My Province was a finalist for the Taite Music Prize.
Film and television appearances On 26 September 2017, Reid made her UK television debut appearance with her band on Later... with Jools Holland on BBC Two.
Discography Studio albums + List of studio albums with selected chart positions and certifications Title Album details Peak chart positions NZ Listen to Formation, Look for the Signs Released: 27 March 2015 Label: Spunk Records Format: CD, LP, download — Preservation Released: 3 March 2017 Label: Basin Rock/Spunk! Format: CD, LP, download 13 Out of My Province Released: 6 March 2020 Label: Spacebomb/Slow Time Format: CD, LP, download 2 Enter Now Brightness Released: 7 February 2025 Label: Chrysalis/Slow Time Format: CD, LP, download 17 "—" denotes releases that did not chart.
Live albums Title Details Live at Old St Paul's (with NZTrio) Released: 18 April 2026 Label: Chrysalis/Slow Time Formats: LP, download
Extended plays Title Details Letters I Wrote and Never Sent Released: 27 October 2011 Label: Self-published Formats: digital download
Singles + List of singles, showing year released and album name Title Year Peak chart positions Album NZArtistHotPeak positions for Benee's singles on the NZ Artist hot singles chart: For "Get the Devil Out": For "Heart to Ride", "All of My Love", "High & Lonely", "Oh Canada": "Call the Days" 2015 — Listen to Formation, Look for the Signs "The Arrow and the Aim" 2016 — Preservation "Richard" 2017 — "Best Thing" 2019 — Out of My Province "Get the Devil Out" 2020 13 "Oh Canada" 16 "—" denotes releases that did not chart.
Other charted songs + List of songs, with selected chart positions, showing year released and album name Title Year Peak chartpositions Album NZAristHeat.Peak positions for Nadia Reid's singles on the NZ Artist Heatseekers singles chart: For "Preservation", "Right on Time": NZArtistHot "Preservation" 2017 1 — Preservation "Right on Time" 3 — "Heart to Ride" 2020 — 9 Out of My Province "All of My Love" — 10 "High & Lonely" — 15 "—" denotes releases that did not chart.
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