With a voice like honey, laced with spice – April Phillips is a storyteller who can move you to tears one moment and then incite you to dump your cheating boyfriend the next. Her songs are about being a strong, sexual, and opinionated woman in the 21st century. 120 years ago she would have been a suffragette. 30,000 years ago she would have been dragging a Neanderthal man around by the hair. 　　Born and raised in the UK but living in New Zealand, April has been singing professionally in bands and stage shows and on TV for many years. She has paid her dues singing other people’s songs in bars and clubs. Her debut album of jazz and pop covers (“Make A Wish”) quietly sold enough copies to raise $10,000 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation of New Zealand, a children’s charity April chose to donate the proceeds to. She’s been featured on TV, in magazines and in newspapers. Her recorded music is being played on radio and at dance venues. She is also a successful and award winning actress and playwright. 　　April has just completed her third album, but this time she’s singing her own music. “Tempting Fate” features 14 original pop tracks. It’s an eclectic and exciting mix of catchy tunes, shifting tempos and mood swings. Songs like “It Ain’t Fair”, “Angel Loves A Guitar Man” and “You Lied To Me” are fast, phat and funky and infused with attitude. Desire and passion permeate the dance tracks “What I Want”, “Envious” and “One Shot”. There’s girlie humour and quirkiness in tunes like “Shop Till You Drop” and “First Date” and then just when you were having a good time, she goes and rips up your emotions with a ballad that’s telling your own sad love story – ‘cause you’ve been there, you’ve felt that. 　　And why do they get to you? Because she’s a story teller. As an actress she’s portrayed the strong and the weak, the dejected and the sassy. As a playwright, she has created lives, great finales and sad endings. And in her music, the stories are influenced by her own experiences of love, loss, heartbreak, fun, ambition and regrets. 　　The songs on “Tempting Fate” were produced and arranged by Nick Granville of Grand Scale. The album was recorded by Phill Adams at Matrix Digital Studios in Wellington and mastered by Mike Gibson of Trident Sound Studios. Some of New Zealand’s most acclaimed and in-demand musicians and singers feature on the album including Nick Granville, Lance Philip, James Illingworth, Bella Kalolo, Liz Fa’alogo, Nick Tipping, Vaughn Roberts, Nils Olsen, and Kirsten Te Rito. 　　Who does April sound like? Her voice is warm, rich and sensual, but it’s sweet too. Like spiced honey. A cup of creamy hot chocolate with two spoons of sugar.