Te Whare Tiwekaweka (Vinyl) - By: Marlon Williams - Model Number: MWML001LP

Description

Ko te reo M?ori, he matapihi ki te ao M?ori� goes the M?ori whakatauki (proverb) that has guided Aotearoa singer/songwriter Marlon Williams™(K?i Tahu, Ng?i Tai) fourth solo album, Te Whare T?wekaweka. Translated, it means The M?ori language is a window to the M?ori world� and expresses Marlon™s motivation behind his first te reo M?ori album. Through the process of constructing these songs,� Marlon says, I™ve found a means of expressing my joys, sorrows and humour in a way that feels both distinctly new yet also connects me to my t?puna [ancestors] and my whenua [land, home].�
 
Connection lies at the heart of Te Whare T?wekaweka, the album™s five-year process reconnecting Marlon to family, friends and his home town of Lyttelton after a globe-trotting decade establishing his career. That sense of home-coming is expressed on the cover art by Marlon™s mum, artist Jennifer Rendall, drawn when she was pregnant with the future singer and which eerily resembles an adult Marlon. The album also signifies another step in Marlon™s journey with his ancestral tongue, his ability in the language developing as the songs accumulated in the hours spent with close friend and co-writer, rapper KOMMI. 
 
The language unlocked both a newfound lyrical honesty and a grand sonic vision. Supported by long-time touring band The Yarra Benders, co-producer Mark Perkins (Te Wh?nau-?-Apanui), the He Waka K?tuia singers and featuring a collaboration with pop star Lorde, the album traverses Marlon™s familiar folk-country-bluegrass territory, while continuing his exploration of poppier waters and the inherent rhythms of M?ori music. The result is a collection at once contemporary and timeless.

The making of the album was captured in the documentary Marlon Williams: Ng? Ao E Rua - Two Worlds directed by Ursula Grace. Marlon wanted to share his journey in the hope others might benefit. It™s the same impulse that drives his songwriting. I hope that music may do the mahi (work) that conversation cannot, and that it may broaden and deepen our sense of interconnectedness,� he says. By expanding his output into M?ori, Marlon has widened the portal through which that connection might happen. Te Whare T?wekaweka, he says, has given him a bigger playground�.

LP Track Listing

Side A
 
E Mawehe Ana Au
Kei Te M?rama
Aua Atu R?
Me Uaua K?
Korero M?ori
Ko T?n? Ua
Whakamaettia Mai
 
Side B

Ng? Ara Aroha
Huri te Whenua (Featuring KOMMI)
Kuru Pounamu
K?hore He Manu E (Featuring Lorde)
P?naki
Rere Mai Ng? Rau
P?kaia R? te Marama

Label
Marlon Williams Music/Universal Music New Zealand

Tracks & Genre

UNIVERSAL NR