Maxine Funke is a New Zealand singer-songwriter, based in Dunedin.[1]
Growing up in a musical family, her early bands included the Snares, the Hundred Dollar Band (with Alastair Galbraith) and the Beaters, before beginning her solo career with the full-length album Lace in 2008 and Felt (2014).
Her first two releases began to build an audience which led to significant media attention for her third album Silk in 2018[2] and her fourth, Seance in 2021.[3] The Sydney Morning Herald featured Seance, writing that Funke "has for several years quietly gone about making exquisite, minimal music on a small scale, tucked away in New Zealand – yet has consistently attracted worldwide acclaim." Pitchfork praised the album, writing, "spare acoustic arrangements make deceptively simple containers for songs charged with memory and mysticism."[4] Within New Zealand, Seance occasioned a review of her career from NZ Musician, noting forthcoming projects and how the Covid-19 isolation fed into her 2021 album.
A compilations of singles and out-takes, Pieces of Driftwood, was released to acclaim in 2022 both within New Zealand[5] and internationally.[6]
Her most recent album River Said came out in April 2023 with UK record label Disciples, who had released her previous compilation.[7]