Bic Runga talks new disco sound and true feelings on 'Sway' being NZ hold music

National treasure Bic Runga is back with a brand new sound. 

Her new album 'Red Sunset' is filled with that iconic voice we all know and love, but its also got a little disco, a little funk, and a totally different vibe. 

It's been 15 years since we last had a full album of originals from Bic, and she told rova a lot of that is down to prioritising her kids, who are growing up fast and starting to walk their own paths. 

"I haven't made a record in a really long time," Bic said. "I've been putting myself second to all that motherhood stuff, and now I'm just like, 'Man, if I don't get a life… what am I going to do?'". 

Now 50, the singer-songwriter said she's been "trying to remember what I used to love doing, and it was writing songs". Check out our chat with Bic here:

As for the party undertones of the new record - quite a departure from the easy-listening, acoustic sound of her early career - Bic admits that the genre shift was deliberate. "I always wanted to make a song that sounded kind of clubby, and now that I'm like... middle-aged, I'm like, 'Better do it'".

The album's release today leads up to a tour scheduled for March, where the NZ Music Hall of Famer promises to play both her old classics and the new tracks. Unlike some performers with such a storied career, Bic is happy to always include the songs people know in her setlists, but says it's "nice to be around this long and have a whole new repertoire to add". The tour will also include a special show with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, which adds an entirely new dimension to her musical output. 

In one of the most Kiwi twists ever, Bic is actually the drummer in her own support act. She became a drummer as a kid, before picking up any other instrument. 

"I just love drumming," she said. "I might wear a disguise [on tour], a bear suit or something. I don't know".

While still surprising us with a new album, a recent collaboration with Serj Tankian from System of a Down and a turn on the catwalk for NZ Fashion Week, Bic remains best known for her enduring global hit, 'Sway'.

Despite being released nearly 30 years ago, it's recently been covered by overseas acts like Amy Shark and beabadoobee, and of course, it remains a staple of hold music playlists for places like the IRD and Studylink - this is something Bic is a bloody good sport about, despite her mixed feelings on that part of her legacy.

"It's funny, I actually rang (the music licensing org) APRA, which I'm now on the board of," she revealed, "and said, 'Hey, um, can I get my music taken off the hold music?' And apparently you can't".

"Like if you take it off there, you're opting out of all this stuff. So I'd probably barely make a living if I opted out," she explained.

And yes, she has been stuck on hold to IRD, listening to her own song - a uniquely weird experience. "I don't think it's going to change, and it's fine," she says. Music just finds its way, and like, big apologies if it's really annoying."

That's the kind of humility you'd only see from a Kiwi icon so down to earth she plays in her own support band. Bic's new album 'Red Sunset' is out today.