Lorde has shared a new Māori language EP, titled 'Te Ao Mārama'.
The project translates five songs from her 'Solar Power' album, with Hana Mereraiha handling translation.
Māori singers appear as backing vocalists, with the credits thanking Dame Hinewehi Mohi and Sir Timoti Kāretu for their involvement.
Online now, all proceeds from the EP will go to New Zealand-based charities Forest and Bird and the Te Hua Kawariki Charitable Trust.
In a newsletter to fans, Lorde wrote: “Many things revealed themselves slowly to me while I was making this album, but the main realisation by far was that much of my value system around caring for and listening to the natural world comes from traditional Māori principles. There’s a word for it in te reo: kaitiakitanga, meaning ‘guardianship or caregiving for the sky, sea and land.’”
“I’m not Māori, but all New Zealanders grow up with elements of this worldview. Te ao Māori and tikanga Māori are a big part of why people who aren’t from here intuit our country to be kind of ‘magical,’ I think. I know I’m someone who represents New Zealand globally in a way, and in making an album about where I’m from, it was important to me to be able to say: this makes us who we are down here.”
“It’s also just a crazy beautiful language—I loved singing in it. Even if you don’t understand te reo, I think you’ll get a kick out of how elegant my words sound in it. Hana’s translations for Te Ara Tika / The Path and Hine-i-te-Awatea / Oceanic Feeling in particular take my g-d breath away.”
Tune in now.
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