Trailer for the new Ursula Grace Williams' documentary about Kiwi musician Marlon Williams creating his first te reo Māori language album, Te Whare Tīwekaweka. Video / 818
Lorde and Marlon Williams have released a new song Kāhore He Manu E together and shared each other’s praises.
Williams' album Te Whare Tīwekaweka releases April 4, with a supporting tour in May and June touting special guests.
The tour includes regional centres and a special performance at Auckland’s Spark Arena for Matariki.
Award-winning Māori musicianMarlon Williams (Kāi Tahu, Ngāi Tai) had special superstar support for his latest project, an album based around the beauty of te reo Māori.
New Zealand alt-pop icon Lorde has revealed she is “so proud” of her friend Marlon Williams, with the pair’s new te reo Māori song hitting Kiwi airwaves today and the acclaimed singer announcing a nationwide tour of his deeply personal te reo album.
Kāhore He Manu E is the second single of Williams' waiata-filled Māori language album Te Whare Tīwekaweka, which is set to be released in full on April 4.
He will tour the album in May and June, hitting regional centres such as Napier and Gisborne and also taking on a special headline performance at Auckland’s Spark Arena to celebrate Matariki.
Marlon William's deeply personal te reo Māori album Te Whare Tīwekaweka is out April 4. His song Kāhore He Manu E featuring Lorde is out now. Photo / Ian Laidlaw
With help from his long-time band The Yarra Benders, the tour also touts some special appearances from some of the album’s collaborators such as support act and Lyttelton rapper KOMMI (Kāi Tahu, Te-Āti-Awa).
Williams said he spent five years creating Te Whare Tīwekaweka, reconnecting with family and friends in Lyttelton after touring the world and establishing his impressive and diverse career.
“Through the process of constructing these songs, 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 tīpuna [ancestors] and my whenua [land],” he said.
“Ko te reo Māori, he matapihi ki Te Ao Māori” goes the Māori whakatauki (proverb) that has guided Te Whare Tīwekaweka. It means: “the Māori language is a window to the Māori world.”
Lorde (real name Ella Yelich-O’Connor) called Williams an “undercover perfectionist” and said singing with him was one of her “favourite things to do on earth”.
“Over the course of several years I watched Marlon pull at the threads that became Te Whare Tīwekaweka,” she said.
“I saw that the further he got into the album, the deeper my friend came to know himself, his whānau and his world at large.
“He was never going to embark on this journey without turning over every stone, crafting complex waiata that speak to the past while also braiding in his characteristic humour and X-ray vision.”
Williams described the pair’s song as “one of those gentle labours” and that it was “obvious” Lorde would be the right fit from the start.
“Ella’s voice in a very real sense wrote the song,” he said.
“Singing with Ella is incredible; the amount of mind she’s able to pour into the vessel.”
Lorde said being asked to contribute to the album and sing with Williams was an honour, whether the pair were “tipsy backstage by a pool table or in a luscious studio”.
“I’m so proud of my friend,” she said.
Williams is no stranger to Kiwi collaborations for his projects, having previously worked with country icon Delaney Davidson and indie artist Aldous Harding in the past.
