“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
Genre
Country

UNIVERSAL NR