Surprisingly for a singer-songwriter, Estère avoids writing songs about herself.
"I wrote a story from the perspective of a whale," she told Newshub. "I wrote a story from the perspective of a high-class prostitute who wants to be president."
Her songs' insights into the world and people spring from her background in anthropology.
"I tried to study psychology, became a hypochondriac, started diagnosing myself with all sorts of disorders," she says.
When she's not storming the stage, the Wellingtonian tutors part-time at Victoria University and allowing herself to concentrate on something other than music helps her find a balance.
"If I have time in different areas, it's more of a drive," she says. "It's like 'oh, I've got Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday to do music, so I'm gonna make sure I do that'," she says.
She's given her music its own genre - electric blue witch hop.
"Electric alludes to the electronic component," she explains. "Blue, if you imagine the music having synesthesia, I imagine it being blue.
"The witch is about the magic of music, and the hop is about the heavy beats and big basslines I like to put in there."
Not one for conventions, Estère's new album has an unusual format. She's decided to split it into two parts - one came out in October, the next will come in March.
"It kinda works like a chapter book," she says. "So people get introduced to the first part of the story, which is a bunch of songs with quite clear concepts, and then the second part comes along."
When the two come together, the full album title is My Design On Others' Lives.
Estère records everything herself, meaning the album's taken a long time to put together. Because she spends so much time with her instruments, she's given them names.
"Lola's probably my main instrument - she's my girl," she says of her music production centre.
You can catch Estère - and Lola - on tour throughout New Zealand over the next week.
Newshub.
