THURSDAY  JUNE  18th 2026, SPACE ACADEMY, 371 ST ASAPH ST,                      DOORS 7:30 PM. LIMITED EARLY BIRD TICKETS.

"After a long hiatus, Mitchell returns with her third full‑length album, Meaningful Work, a response to our widening landscape of altered states. Twelve years in the making, the record is both an integrative work and a statement piece, pairing her bold, unguarded songwriting with lush experimental alt‑pop and unmistakably raw, powerful vocals – closing one chapter and opening a new creative trajectory.

If you’re a bit fuzzy on the name, here’s a quick profile. L.A. Mitchell (Lauren Anne Mitchell, now Lauren Barus) is one of Aotearoa New Zealand’s most respected yet understated musical voices. A singer, composer, and vocal coach, she works across solo performance, collaboration, and community music‑making. Emerging in the late 2000’s with a background in jazz vocal performance and a Bachelor of Music from the University of Canterbury, she built a career performing with artists such as Dave Dobbyn, Bic Runga, Tim Finn, Anna Coddington, Sola Rosa, Dukes, Troy Kingi, and Dallas Tamaira (Fat Freddy’s Drop), and toured in support of Stevie Wonder, Lionel Richie, and Guy Sebastian. Many will also recognise her from her long‑standing involvement with Fly My Pretties and the Bill Withers Social Club.

Alongside this work, Mitchell co‑founded the acoustic folk duo Terrible Sons with her husband Matt Barus, earning an AMA Best Folk Artist finalist nomination in 2024. Across all these contexts, her style is defined by embodied vocal expression, lyrical intimacy, and a deliberate refusal to over‑produce emotion.

If you follow the awards, then you’ll already know that her song Apple Heart  &  When It's All Too Much was a Top 20 finalist for the Silver Scrolls " Tim Guar Musicnz

Now she is coming out to play on her home turf with her musical companions, aptly called 'The Band'

The Band consists of the exempliary Joe McCallum on Drums and thoughtful percussion. Heather Webb on face-melting guitar & the imitable Jo Barus on Bass.