Lorde has swiftly followed-up her latest album Solar Power with a surprise new EP, her first release in te reo Māori.
As per Pitchfork, the New Zealand star shared the five-track EP, titled Te Ao Mārama, on Thursday afternoon, September 9th. It sees her rework hits from the Solar Power collection in Māori, the Indigenous language of New Zealand.
The songs in question are ‘Solar Power’ (‘Te Ao Mārama’), ‘The Path’ (‘Te Ara Tika’), ‘Stoned at the Nail Salon’ (‘Mata Kohore’), ‘Oceanic Feeling’ (‘Hine-i-te-Awatea’), and ‘Fallen Fruit’ (‘Hua Pirau’). The EP is a collaboration between Sir Tīmoti Kāretu, Dame Hinewehi Mohi, Hana Mereraiha, and Hēmi Kelly.
Check out ‘Solar Power’ by Lorde:
As Solar Power had been heavily focused on the environment, Lorde explained in a newsletter she felt it was appropriate to translate the album into te reo in acknowledgement of principles such as kaitiakitanga as she explained: “I’m not Māori, but all New Zealanders grow up with elements of this worldview,” she said.
“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’.”
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Lorde has timed the arrival of the EP well, as it’s been released ahead of the start of Te Wiki o te Reo Māori, at a time when many New Zealand musicians have released or have plans to release albums and singles in te reo. All proceeds from the EP will go to the New Zealand-based charities Forest and Bird and the Te Hua Kawariki Charitable Trust.
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Listen to Te Ao Mārama below:
