The project of
Michael Lovett,
NZCA Lines combines the sounds of '90s R&B,
Beach Boys harmonies, and sci-fi imagery into crisp, retro-futuristic synth pop. He introduced his swooning take on this sound with 2012's NZCA/Lines and embellished on it with 2016's
Infinite Summer.
Lovett's blend of
Timbaland and
Philip K. Dick gave his music a tight conceptual focus that set it apart from contemporaries and collaborators like
Hot Chip,
Metronomy, and
Christine and the Queens (he toured and recorded with the latter two).
NZCA Lines stood out from the electro-pop crowd even further with 2020's
Pure Luxury, a funky, satirical skewering of the era's political and ecological crises.
While performing as the bassist/backing vocalist for
Your Twenties in the late 2000s,
Lovett also worked on crisp synth pop with his housemate, Lo Recordings artist
Charlie Alex March.
Lovett took the project's name from the Peruvian geoglyphs and his songwriting inspiration from authors such as Italo Calvino, and began releasing music as
NZCA Lines in 2011. His debut EP, Nazca, appeared on the Tokyo-based label Big Love, while Loaf released the singles "Compass Points" and "Okinawa Channels." Produced by
March and mixed by
Ash Workman, the breezy yet melancholy full-length NZCA/Lines appeared in February 2012.
Lovett continued to work on
NZCA Lines music and issued the single "New Atmosphere" in 2014, but playing guitar and synths on
Christine and the Queens' debut album Chaleur Humaine, recording and playing live with
Metronomy, and completing a degree in illustration delayed the release of his second album. Inspired by science fiction writers like
Arthur C. Clarke and
Philip K. Dick as well as
Daft Punk's Interstella 5555, the ambitious
Infinite Summer featured
Charlotte Hatherley and
Hot Chip's
Sarah Jones and arrived in 2016. Along with touring in support of the album,
Lovett remained in demand as a sideman for
Metronomy and
Christine and the Queens, appearing on the latter's 2020 EP
People, I've Been Sad. For
NZCA Lines' third album,
Lovett took a different approach. A more direct set of songs shaped by the political climate of the U.S. and U.K. in the late 2010s and early 2020s,
Pure Luxury took its musical cues from
Sinnamon and '90s-era
Beck. Along with Jones,
Lovett's collaborators included drummers
Kwake Bass and
Liam Hutton, and VIAA and the group
King on vocals. Memphis Industries released
Pure Luxury in July 2020. ~ Heather Phares