Shaun Blackwell, known as Hemi Hemingway, writes from a life split across oceans, scenes, and names. Born into Waitaha, Ngāi Tahu, Kāti Māmoe, Te Āti Awa, Ngāti Mutunga whakapapa, he has spoken of the moniker as a way to hold his Māori heritage close, a deliberate step toward an identity he has often felt pulled away from. His early work in Wellington, New Zealand with John the Baptist sharpened his feel for structure and atmosphere, how a song can carry a character through a scene. With Hemi Hemingway, he leans into a chosen voice and a chosen name, a frame that gives him room to speak plainly, keeping desire at the center of the work.
Wings of Desire, titled for Wim Wenders’ 1987 film, opens with “I wanna live on the wings of desire,” a line that sets up the album's central tension between longing and transformation. The writing comes out of a long relationship ending, a return from London to Wellington in 2022, and the unsettled freedom of starting over with songs that move through grief and hunger, then the work of finding your own want again.
The album's sound leans hard into 80's synth pop and New Romantic drama, with the gothy tension of post punk woven into it. Arrangements hold back, then surge, and the bass grooves even when the chords turn minor. Hemingway’s baritone anchors the songs, bringing warmth to the romance and weight to the longing and grief. I love the guitar, the way it cuts through the synth layers with clear edges, and the sax, which arrives like a second lead voice, melodic and heated, adding another line of narrative. Listening, you can pick up bits of Peter Murphy, a-ha, The Church, Depeche Mode, even Springsteen in the bigger hooks.
Whether you're nostalgic for something quintessentially 80's or just looking for a great vibing album, Hemingway delivers it on Wings of Desire. It’s a record of real craft, packed with hooks, guitars, sax, and sheen, everything I want from an album like this.
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