Princess Chelsea — Live at Studio Two (Lil’ Chief Records) (13th Floor Album Review)

Princess Chelsea records at Abbey Road! The results are due out on vinyl tomorrow…John Hastings has the 13th Floor Floor Album Review today.

There’s a special kind of vibe when as artist with a fiercely DIY sensibility walks into the most storied live room in pop and lays down a set of tracks within a day. Auckland producer/composer Princess Chelsea (Chelsea Nikkel) has spent the last decade and a half crafting wry, baroque pop miniatures that smuggle deep meaning under candy-shell melodies: The Cigarette Duet got our attention, The Loneliest Girl sharpened the hooks, and 2022’s guitar-leaning Everything Is Going To Be Alright won the Taite Music Prize and garnered wide international attention.

The new set, Live at Studio Two, was recorded in a single day at Abbey Road’s Studio 2 during late 2022 touring. It arrives as a limited canary yellow vinyl and an hour-long film directed by Marc Swadel. It draws heavily from Everything Is Going To Be Alright while dipping into carefully selected older favourites. Princess Chelsea and her expanded The Dream Warriors support band bless us with an intimate, funny, slightly surreal chamber-pop revue in one of music’s most mythic rooms. This isn’t a loose tour board tape, rather it’s a deliberately staged live-in-studio film and companion LP that represents her recent catalogue captured within Abbey Road’s historic setting.

For this recording The Dream Warriors consisted of the multitalented core of Jasmine Balmer, Joshua Worthington-Church, Simeon Kavanagh-Vincent, David Harris, and Joe Kaptein, joined by Tara Viscardi on Harp and Nathan Giorgetti Cello

The curtain-raiser Time also acts as a mission statement of re-building. In the film clip you can see how the 360° dolly wraps the band, Chelsea almost floating between child-song simplicity and bruised optimism (“it just takes time”), with the Abbey Room shining. The live take is slightly roomier than the studio single and benefits from string timbres from Viscardi and Giorgetti. It sets a gentle, consoling pulse — like a peptalk whispered under the breath, with Jasmine’s and Simeon’s backing vocals augmenting Chelseas pin point delivery as the song builds and builds.

One of her slyest ever earworms I Love My Boyfriend the one-line confession of lust and love dressed up as bubblegum pop. Live, we are led in by the rhythm section before the band lean into doo-wop swing and the keys give extra sparkle and the vocal delivery still lands without puncturing its warmth.

Late-career classic Forever Is A Charm turned into a slow-blooming waltz that shows off the two guitar lattice and Chelsea’s breathy top lines which develop into a floating dreamy quality. There is a dynamic push in the back third — the live band have been stretching this one since 2022 as they explore the delicate line from charm to menace and back that sits withing the songs storytelling.

Monkey Eats Bananas, from the Lil’ Golden Book era provides nursery rhyme minimalism with a bite. In Studio Two the song’s toy box melody turns glassy with the keys leading us in and the rhythm section giving it a motorik 4/4 beat while multiple percussion provides the layers. Chelsea seems almost to be having fun.

One of the deep cuts; Respect The Labourers with it’s vivid visual lyrics has Chelseas beautiful opening supported by Giorgettis understated cello. The title’s chanty cadence becomes a mantra. The Abbey Road space lets the synth beds breathe while percussion stays crisp you can hear why they wanted Studio Two’s natural sound. The song builds in crescendo leading to a full band wigout.

A graceful slowdance Growing Older an ode to time’s soft violence. The three guitars chime and soar while Joe’s keys add a silvery halo; the arrangement feels half lullaby, half elegy, the kind of song that belongs in a place like this. Chelsea’s vocals sound equally plaintive and hopeful as she evokes the essence of aging and fading.

The Taite-winning album’s title track Everything Is Going To Be Alright expands into a small suite – intro hush, mid-set lift, cathartic release, led by Joshuas guitar work with Daves drums providing the backbone. Chelsea takes us along on the journey from anxiety to self re-assurance. The live pacing and echo off the Studio Two walls let the refrain feel almost congregational.

One of her earliest signature tunes Yulia returns with a stately, baroque/pop gloss — celeste-like keys and high register harmonies nudge it closer to a chamber piece but with a slow groove. A lovely way to bridge old and new.

The Forest has gradually become a live centrepiece. In Studio Two it grows tall and spooky, the guitars casting long shadows while Chelsea’s voice starts small and sure, before a patient post-rock lift in energy as Simeons guitar rocks and Chelsea chants as we explore the overt build of mania before the breakdown.

They provide the perfect closer When the World Turns Grey the apocalyptic cradle song from The Great Cybernetic Depression era lands like a benediction here — longer outro, softer edges, more space between piano and vocal.  Chelsea starts off conversational as Joe builds the rhythm on the piano and Joshua explores sonic spaces. Chelsea and Jasmine combine to take us into deep emotion before the full band join in to lift the song into the stratosphere.  It’s where the LP’s title and room’s mythology meet: a goodbye that feels like a promise of return.

Live at Studio Two captures Princess Chelsea at a stage where the apartment-pop auteur has become a confident band organiser — same wit, bigger heart, and a big production that somehow never overpowers the intimacy. The Abbey Road romance is real, but the record never dwells on the history, instead it spotlights the songwriting and gives the band’s touring chemistry a deep smooth glow.  The companion video provides insight into the collective creativity and is mesmerising testament of Princess Chelsea and The Dream Warriors outstanding talent and showcases Chelsea’s captivating songwriting and delivery beautifully.

John Hastings

Live at Studio Two is out February 26 via Lil Chief Records