Bret McKenzie on songwriting: ‘It’s a little bit like flying in a dream’

Because he’s been writing songs for so long, Bret McKenzie can now recognise and try to "stay" with the exciting feeling of a new tune emerging.

The sensation of having "a little bit of control, but not complete control" over the songwriting process reminds him of soaring through the sky while dreaming.

"It's quite magic like that, and it's really fun,” he tells Saturday Morning.

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After finding fame as half of the iconic folk duo Flight of the Conchords, McKenzie now works mostly on film soundtracks, like The Muppets (2011) and this year's megahit A Minecraft Movie.

Following his 2022 debut solo album Songs Without Jokes, he releases Freak Out City this July.

Like many songs on the new album, McKenzie wrote 'All I Need' - a love song about his wife, Hannah - at night after his kids were asleep.

“It's funny. We've been together a long time, so like anyone who's been married a long time, you have days where you love each other more than others. And that's one I wrote on one of those really good days.

“I sat down at the piano and the chorus just sort of fell out, just dropped down… The flow sort of wrote itself.”

Freak Out City was recorded in both Los Angeles - with a session band made up of friends McKenzie met working on films - and New Zealand, with his local eight-piece band The State Highway Wonders.

As most of the band are jazz players, McKenzie says they have a special ability to improvise on the fly.

At the Royal Whanganui Opera House on his last tour - without telling the band - he tested out this ability.

Curious what it would be like to request a song theme from the audience and then try to write one on the spot, McKenzie asked if anyone had a story about love, and someone told him about their recent separation.

Although his band looked terrified, McKenzie says, after he jotted down some lyrics and started playing the piano, they jumped in to perform “the equivalent of magic”.

"Sometimes it didn't work, but when it worked, it's pretty amazing. And then when it doesn't work, it's still pretty funny."

Later this month, he and The State Highway Wonders will try their onstage improvisation again at two shows at Wellington's Lōemis festival on 18 and 19 June.

In years to come, McKenzie says fans of Flight of the Conchords might get to see he and Jemaine Clement return to the stage together, too.

The pair make brief, separate appearances in A Minecraft Movie - Clement as a character named Daryl at the auction of a storage unit, and McKenzie as the Minecraft villager Nitwit, who is the love interest of Marlene, played by American actress Jennifer Coolidge.

McKenzie suspects that when he (48) and Clement (51) are a bit older, the duo's irreverent, pseudo-serious songs might be funny to perform.

“The idea of two old men singing about ‘too many dicks on the dance floor’ does really crack me up."