Biography
Seth Frightening is the recording name of Wellington-born musician Sean Kelly, a singer-songwriter working in a tradition he has described as damaged folk — intimate songs built around death, sex, loneliness, and existential dread. Kelly began recording music in high school, initially attempting to capture Neil Young songs before developing his own sound. The project launched in 2010 with The Prince and His Madness, recorded entirely on a laptop microphone and self-released online. It grew out of Seth and Merle, a prior band Kelly described as “this weird, demented folk band, like borderline twee music.”
Kelly’s characteristic technique layers multiple vocal tracks that move cohesively while remaining distinct — an approach he aligns with the Beatles, Nirvana, and Elliott Smith. His primary influences are Low and Sun Kil Moon. He balances music with factory work, hospital cleaning, and theatre composition. A broken heel injury gave him unexpected studio time that produced some of his most focused work.
When you’re dealing with ugly emotions, it makes sense to use an ugly sound.
Sean Kelly, NZ Musician
His releases have appeared on the Wellington label Sonorous Circle, co-founded by producer Thomas Lambert, who mixed several of Kelly’s albums. The vinyl debut But We Love Our Brothers and Sisters (2015, Sonorous Circle, SLOW001) — pressed on bone-coloured vinyl in an edition of 250 — marked a turning point in his reach. Kelly has performed alongside Grizzly Bear (hand-picked by the band), Jónsi, Low, Neutral Milk Hotel, Beirut, Jessica Pratt, and Deerhoof, and has toured nationally multiple times with All Seeing Hand.
Seth Frightening isn’t really an alter ego. More of a mask.
Sean Kelly, Under the Radar
Fall Asleep in the Onion Weeds (2024, Sonorous Circle) — his most recent album — was described by RNZ as “as intriguing and esoteric as ever, all the more powerful for how damaged it feels around the margins.” Kelly is now based in London.
Members
- Sean Kelly (vocals/guitar, Seth and Merle, Seth Frightening)
Discography
- The Prince and His Madness [Digital] (2010, self-released)
- B.Hoo [Digital] (2011, Sonorous Circle)
- Don’t You Worry (Heat Death) [Digital] (2012, self-released)
- Urine (A Container) [Digital] (2013, Sonorous Circle)
- But We Love Our Brothers and Sisters [Vinyl/Digital] (2015, Sonorous Circle, SLOW001)
- Fall Asleep in the Onion Weeds [Digital] (2024, Sonorous Circle)