It’s been a quarter of a century in the making, but Kiwi hitmaker (and newest member of legendary Kiwi band Th’Dudes) Rikki Morris is set to announce himself back on the NZ music scene with the release of a new single ‘The One Thing I Can’t Live Without.’

And in true Rikki Morris style - think ‘Nobody Else’ and ‘Heartbroke’ - the new song is a beautifully crafted song, with a haunting melody and lyrics that will resonate with love song melomaniacs –

“I can leave behind the past, and the dreams that never lasted, but the one thing I can’t leave behind is you. When I think of what I had, how I took it all for granted, now the only thing I think about is you”

“I mostly write love songs, it’s what I do best”, says Rikki. “I normally struggle with lyrics, but this song just fell out of me. The whole thing only took me about 1 hour to write!”

The late 80’s and early 90’s was undeniably Rikki’s most successful period to date, a time that saw him win multiple songwriting awards including a Tui for Best Songwriter in 1988 (‘Nobody Else’) and the APRA Silver Scroll in 1991 (‘Heartbroke’)

After the release of his album ‘Everest’ in 1996, the same year Mel Gibson won a Best Picture Oscar for Braveheart and Jim Bolger was still Prime Minister of New Zealand, Rikki decided to take a step back from the front end of the New Zealand music industry.

“I decided to step back from releasing my own music in 1996 due to a fair amount of disillusionment with the music industry,” says Morris. “Instead I started working behind the scenes as a producer, mentor, jingle writer and recording engineer – It’s where I felt more comfortable and more creative.”

Although Rikki will rarely take any credit or kudos for his work over the past 25 years, he has played a huge role in nurturing the youth of the NZ music industry, some of whom have gone on to be international stars.

“I’ve worked with dozens of up and coming musicians like Gin Wigmore, Finn Andrews, The Checks, The Electric Confectionaires and more. I even recorded demos with Lorde when she was only 13!” says Rikki.

And tell any live performing musician from Greg Johnson to Tami Neilson that Rikki Morris is the sound engineer for their show or tour and they will breathe a sigh of relief knowing everything is going to be okay.

Now it’s Rikki’s time to grace the airwaves once more with the release of ‘The One Thing I Can’t Live Without.’ Produced by Rikki and Wayne Bell the song has an accompanying music video produced and directed by visual artist Lisa Currin.

“I think the song and video are unlike anything else being released right now,” says Rikki. “I really want my audience to go 'huh?' when they first hear/see it! It will definitely take a few listens to sink in!”