Connan Mockasin
The New Zealand cult favourite brings his surreal, genre-defying sound to the Playhouse
Sydney —
New Zealand’s psych-pop enigma Connan Mockasin will return to Australia with his three-piece band for two rare, intimate performances in the Sydney Opera House Playhouse on Thursday 16 October, marking his first Australian visit since 2019.
Renowned for his eccentric fusion of psychedelia, R&B and left-field indie pop, the prodigious musician, composer and producer has cultivated a devoted following with his dreamy guitar textures and distinctive feather-light falsetto. From cult classics Forever Dolphin Love (2010) to Caramel (2013) and Jassbusters (2018), Mockasin’s catalogue resists genre, but remains unmistakably his own: strange, intimate and influential.
Sydney Opera House Head of Contemporary Music, Ben Marshall, said: “Connan Mockasin is one of contemporary music’s true enigmas – oddly seductive and brimming with originality, weaving experimental synth soundscapes with soulful, dreamlike guitar. His music drifts effortlessly between the eccentric and the ethereal. To experience him in the intimacy of the Playhouse will be unmatched and wonderfully weird – like stumbling upon a neighbourhood garage jam, but with one of the most singular musicians of our time.”
A revered collaborator and magnetic live performer, Mockasin has quietly inspired a generation of musicians with his singular vision and fearless experimentation. Figures like Radiohead, Frank Ocean, Doja Cat, Tyler, The Creator, Mac DeMarco and Steve Lacy have all expressed admiration for his work – some collaborating directly, others taking cues from his genreless sound.
