We’re excited to announce that we are featuring the new track, ‘Taera’ by Rob Ruha as our latest video of the week.
Sung completely in te reo, ‘Taera’ glistens with authentic Aotearoa roots. It’s colourful and upbeat (with a music video to match) and whether you speak the language or not, it will undoubtedly get you feeling like you have to get up and dance.
Rolling Stone Australia managing editor, Poppy Reid interviewed Ruha earlier this year and described his music as heart-opening.
“Listening to Rob Ruha’s music without understanding te reo is a heart-opener. He sings of institutional racism, legislation against language, prohibition against language, and Māori cultural practices, but it’s all wrapped up in a warm embrace where these issues are presented as a dialogue, not an attack.”
Ruha’s latest track is a celebration of “Māori swag”, as Ruha said in an interview with Music Net.
“‘Taera’ is fun and light, production is swag and it’s all in my native tongue: the nuanced, crack up and warm reo I hear in my neck of the woods,” he said.
“You could say it’s a special, mystique part of me and my people that I am whole-heartedly sharing with the world”.
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“I wanted a song that was effortlessly me and inspired others to be effortlessly them. ‘Taera’ is my reo, my kinda jam, it’s half mad and fully fun with an uplifting message of unity”.
The track also comes from Ruha’s recently released album Preservation of Scenery. On the album, Ruha said, “In one of the most uncertain and testing times in generations, Preservation of Scenery encourages us to search deeper beyond superficial veneers.”
Watch the video for ‘Taera’ by Rob Ruha:
