Tiny Ruins

A rare blend of eloquent lyrical craft and explorative musicianship, the songs of Tiny Ruins have been treasured by crowds and critics for over a decade. Via an eclectic raft of influences, the musical world of Hollie Fullbrook and band spans delicate folk, lustrous dream pop and ebullient psychedelia.

Born in Bristol and raised in West Auckland, songwriter & multi-instrumentalist Fullbrook's debut LP Some Were Meant For Sea (2011) features her alone, and was quickly celebrated by radio playlists and blogs worldwide. The album’s clutch of “gorgeous vignettes” (BBC) put the artist on the map, and she took to the road from her home in New Zealand to tour extensively through the UK, Europe and North America – often accompanied by her friend Cass Basil on bass.

Following the tape-recorded EP Haunts (2013) with the addition of drummer Alex Freer, the then-trio began work on second album Brightly Painted One with producer Tom Healy, who later joined the band on electric guitar. Brightly Painted One (2014) was championed by the New York Times, NPR and David Lynch, & won Best Alternative Album at the New Zealand Music Awards - “…an album of quiet, devastating beauty,” wrote Pop Matters.

In between touring, Fullbrook became a sought after collaborator. A New York recording session culminated in the EP Hurtling Through (2015) with indie-rock legend Hamish Kilgour (The Clean), while single Dream Wave (2016) was recorded and produced by award-winning cult filmmaker and musician David Lynch -

Building on the sparse minimalism and intricate songwriting of earlier releases, the band’s third album Olympic Girls comprised a taut and agile quiver of songs, dancing with explorative instrumentation and a pop sensibility springing with life.

“I've heard Olympic Girls, and I had to pick my jaw up off the floor”, wrote Grant Smithies. “Clustered around more introspective passages typical of confessional singer-songwriters are gnarlier phrases that give her work its buzzy voltage: arresting visual images, weird associations, daisy-chains of telling detail.”

Fourth album, Ceremony, is due out on April 28th, 2023. Ceremony has many moods, ranging from intense minimalist 'Diving & Soaring' that evokes a classic folk vibe through to the heavier Neil Young-inspired 'Dorothy Bay', bop 'In Light of Everything', and the hooky, uplifting 'Dogs Dreaming'. Noodly 70s electric guitars, eclectic percussion and prominent bass might make it their most listenable and accessible album to date. The songs are all of a theme - exploring the coastal shores of the Manukau Harbour and working through a psychological 'shellscape', while tending toward a joyful / hopeful take on the passing of time. Ceremony is the band’s highest achievement, an album about confronting confusion, loss, dislocation and ultimately realising the beauty of life's unpredictable paths.


See Tour Dates.

MOJO Review of Olympic Girls - ★★★★

UNCUT Review of Olympic Girls - 8/10

"Part of the charm of Olympic Girls lies in the layers of mystery in each song. Inspired by literature, science, nature and human experience, these mysteries lie waiting to be carefully unfolded…” God Is In the TV - 9/10

"An album confident in its vulnerability and
luxuriating in a bigger sound." Loud & Quiet Review of Olympic Girls - 8/10

"… songs that change sound and mood during their duration, never meandering and always captivating.” BUST Review of Olympic Girls - 5/5

“… a deeper listen to these eleven tracks exposes a breadth of influences that spans decades.”
- The Wire Review of Olympic Girls