Macombee & The Absolute Truth

Macombee & The Absolute Truth are different.

Cinematic arrangements wrap themselves around Sarah Macombee's exquisite voice, drawing you into a world you want to visit again and again. Her strikingly original songs are equal parts movie, art, and fly on the wall - a world that reveals itself a little more with each visit. Stories that you realise you know intimately. The audience feels touched, understood, reminded...

To see Sarah perform is a cathartic experience. Fans of her music are often moved to tears and always deeply touched. Through her uncompromising viewfinder, she lays out the pain and the beauty of what it is to be human. Add to that the beautiful harmonies provided by her daughter Poppy and you have the ingredients of something rare and wonderful. The mother/daughter connection works on more than a musical level. “To witness Sarah and Poppy performing those beautiful songs live is very, very special.”

Sarah Macombee moved to NZ from the UK with her family in 2007. Very happy to call West Auckland her home she’s wasted no time in connecting with talented musicians and producers here in NZ to record the follow up to her last album ‘Sense Offender’.

Sarah’s early songwriting bore fruit at the age of 12 when she wrote a song for her school choir. At the age of 13, she wrote a musical. She left home when she was 15 to experiment with various avant garde bands. When asked about her journey as a musician she says, “ The experience with bands was a huge part of learning the craft of performance but I did however always feel like there was something missing. “ The path back to her own writing began in her late 20’s, when her then flatmate (who later became her husband) heard her playing a tiny casio keyboard. He encouraged Sarah to write and the material for ‘Sense Offender’ was born. Songwriting went alongside the job of bringing up 4 children and it is this combination that Sarah credits with her quest to be unflinchingly honest. “The opportunity to turn the challenges I faced as a young mother into creative nuggets of self-expression really made that a happy time. Having children and experiencing all the love and joy that brings, allowed me to exhume the painful parts of my life growing up. The children sang my songs – which wasn’t always appropriate but it means they have come to know me through them and that, I think, is quite lovely.”

At the same time as the songs were flowing, Sarah discovered that she had Multiple Sclerosis. “The fingers on my right hand were numb and I had tingling and odd sensations in my body. My GP sent me to a neurologist who started the testing process. At this point, MS was mentioned. Five weeks later she got married and life continued. “I went into denial for a year and carried on as before but things were going downhill. I was sick for the next 10 years and made a decision to manage it myself through research about my condition. The possibility that emotional trauma in my childhood had a bearing on my health led me to do a lot of work on myself. I was angry with conventional medicine and trod the alternative path. It was not easy. But this experience, of course has influenced me as an artist. It has been the greatest gift and the greatest curse. As a writer, material comes in cycles. As a woman with MS, the relapses and remissions echo these cycles. At times, the MS has dictated those cycles but conversely, my songs have sustained me through those downward spirals and helped carry me back.”

When asked about her influences she says, “I’m a real romantic when it comes to film and music. I remember being utterly swept away by a film and the sound track. I was transported somewhere that I’d want to stay for as long as possible – sometimes it took me days to escape! I imagined my life as a movie and had soundscapes running constantly in my head. My songs are like that for me. I create a story and add musical arrangements that capture my imagination and bring the stories to life. If I feel like I did as a child watching those films and listening to those soundtracks when I’m singing one of my songs, then I’m happy. I think that’s what audiences are connecting with. It’s the best feeling in the world”.

You can download a copy of their brand new single Gravestones taken from their soon to be released brand new album No Mans Land.