Marlon Williams Details First Māori Language Album, 'Te Whare Tīwekaweka'

Naarm/Melbourne-based New Zealand musician Marlon Williams (Kāi Tahu, Ngāi Tai) has today announced the release of his first Māori language album, Te Whare Tīwekaweka.

Set for release on April 4th, the new record arrives almost two-and-a-half years on from the release of his third album, My Boy, which became his second to top the New Zealand charts, and reached #10 on the Aussie charts.

According to Williams, much of the motivation behind the album comes from the Māori whakatauki (proverb) “Ko te reo Māori, he matapihi ki Te Ao Māori”, which translates to read “The Māori language is a window to the Māori world”.

“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, home),” Williams said of the record.

It’s been a long time coming, too. In the five years that Williams has spent working on the record, he’s reconnected with his family, friends, and hometown of Lyttleton after years spent trekking around the world and establishing an acclaimed career. The process of developing his ancestral tongue has been a game-changer for Williams, unearthing both a new sonic vision and a nascent sense of lyrical honesty.

Working with his band The Yarra Benders, the record was co-produced by Mark Perkins (Te Whānau-ā-Apanui), and features both the He Waka Kōtuia singers and a collaboration with global pop icon Lorde.

While familiar to his tried-and-true sound, it sees Williams becoming a bit poppier along the way. On the record’s newly-released lead single, Aua Atu Rā, it sees Williams taking inspiration from ‘60s Māori showbands and arrives as something of a lament on isolation, co-written with Lyttelton-based rapper Kommi.

“My stumbling around in flawed, simple Māori in my Lyttelton bedroom studio, spurned on by the thought of writing a depressively isolationist rebuttal to the above whakatauki, was the moment that kickstarted the record,” Williams explained. 

“It speaks to something universal, but especially pertinent to Te Ao Māori’s collectivist culture, that I’ve always found difficult to square. We ARE all in the same boat, and as the British literary pundit GK Chesterton added to the picture, ‘we owe each other a terrible loyalty,’ and yet are at once utterly alone.”

Though the song has been in the works for roughly six years now, it’s growth also showcases a growth in Williams’ artistry, too, illustrating a sense of confidence that has only flourished along his journey.

“As a songwriter, I cherish simplicity, but as a speaker of Māori, I had a bucketload of whakamā (self-doubt) to push through before I could even approach my friend Kommi about helping me write songs in Māori,” he adds. “We took this song out on the road with us five years ago and it just felt so damn good to play. I’m proud of it for reasons deeper than I’ve felt as a songwriter before. This song acted as a guiding light for the rest of the album to follow.” 

“I hope that music may do the mahi (work) that conversation cannot, and that it may broaden and deepen our sense of interconnectedness.”

Marlon Williams’ Te Whare Tīwekaweka is set for release on April 4th, with pre-orders available now.