Chelsea Nikkel, better known by her

stage name A stage name is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. Such professional aliases are adopted for a wide variety of reasons and they may be similar, or nearly identical, to an individu ...

Princess Chelsea, is a producer and musician from

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

, New Zealand, and a previous member of

twee pop Twee pop is a subgenre of indie pop that originates from the 1986 ''NME'' compilation ''C86''. Characterised by its simplicity and perceived innocence, some of its defining features are boy–girl harmonies, catchy melodies, and lyrics about love ...

band

the Brunettes The Brunettes were an indie pop or twee pop group from New Zealand formed in 1998 to 2009. The band consists of core members Jonathan Bree and Heather Mansfield, with additional contributions from part-time members such as Ryan McPhun and Chel ...

and Auckland band Teenwolf. Nikkel is associated with the

Lil' Chief Records Lil' Chief Records is a New Zealand–based indie pop record label formed in 2002. Operating from the Auckland suburb of Mt. Eden, it was founded on releases by The Tokey Tones and The Brunettes. The label's roster now includes a collective of ...

collective and is a part-time member of Auckland soul group the Cosbys and Disciples of Macca, a

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...

covers band featuring members of the Brunettes,

Ruby Suns The Ruby Suns are an indie pop group from New Zealand. They formed in 2004 when Californian Ryan McPhun moved to Auckland and started playing in several bands such as The Brunettes, The Tokey Tones, and The Reduction Agents. Biography The Rub ...

Bressa Creeting Cake Bressa Creeting Cake is a New Zealand rock band, active during the 1990s. History The band, originally named Breast Secreting Cake, formed in Auckland around 1991 around the nucleus of Edmund Cake, Geoffrey Maddock and Joel Wilton. Edmund, Ge ...

and

Lawrence Arabia Lawrence Arabia is the musical guise of New Zealand artist and composer James Milne. In 2006, Lawrence Arabia released his self-titled debut album and the debut album from his band The Reduction Agents, ''The Dance Reduction Agents''. Both al ...

and more recently performs as bass player in three-piece rock'n'roll band, Hang Loose. Her baroque musical style has been attributed to her classical training, and the ''

New Zealand Herald ''The New Zealand Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Auckland, New Zealand, owned by New Zealand Media and Entertainment, and considered a newspaper of record for New Zealand. It has the largest newspaper circulation of all newspapers ...

'' praised her "angelic vocals and acerbic wit". Her best known song, "

The Cigarette Duet ''Lil' Golden Book'' is the debut studio album by the New Zealand recording artist Princess Chelsea. It was released on 2 May 2011, through Lil' Chief Records. The album was produced by Jonathan Bree and Chelsea Nikkel. The album tells the tale o ...

" received significant press exposure after its video went viral on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

in early 2012, recently reaching over 80 million views. This led to her being featured on ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'''s "New Band of the Day". Chelsea's song "World Turns Grey" was remixed in a collaboration with the German electronic music producer,

Robin Schulz Robin Alexander Schulz (; born 28 April 1987) is a German musician, DJ and record producer. On 4 February 2014, he released the first single from his debut album, a remix of "Waves" by Dutch hip hop artist Mr. Probz. This remix later received ...

. The remix is on the album ''Sugar'' released by Schulz in September 2015. In August 2016, she made a cover of a song called "Cold Glass Tube" by

the Reduction Agents The Reduction Agents are a New Zealand band fronted by James Milne, who also records under the name Lawrence Arabia. In 2006 the band released their debut album ''The Dance Reduction Agents''. In the same year, Milne released his debut solo albu ...

, which is available on the album ''Waiting for Your Love: A Tribute to the Reduction Agents''. The album was released on iTunes on 19 August. In April 2023, Princess Chelsea won the Taite Music Prize for her "nervous breakdown" album "Everything is Going to be Alright".

Discography

Albums

* '' Lil' Golden Book'' (2011) * '' The Great Cybernetic Depression'' (2015) * ''Aftertouch'' (2016) * ''The Loneliest Girl'' (2018) * ''Everything Is Going to Be Alright '' (2022)

EPs

* '' The Cigarette Duet (European Tour Edition)'' (2012)

Singles

Music videos

References

External links

* *
Radio Interview
Musical groups established in 2009 New Zealand women singer-songwriters New Zealand singer-songwriters 21st-century New Zealand women singers New Zealand women in electronic music Living people Musicians from Auckland Year of birth missing (living people) Indie pop musicians {{NewZealand-musician-stub