Arahi is back with his first solo music release in over a year and a half.
The beautifully moody song reflects on longing for better days ahead while missing the present. Arahi’s subtle sound invites listeners to explore wide, lonely spaces yet feel connected.
“It is common to reminisce fondly on the past only once you’re granted the perspective of time – but even once this is realised it is still rare to surrender yourself to the idea that perhaps the ‘good old days’ are here in front of you, each day,” he shares.
“This is the song of someone who is clinging on to ‘better days’ not realising they are in fact missing them here and now.”
Arahi got inspired for the song at last year’s Taite Music Prize ceremony in Auckland. Warren Maxwell’s comment about ‘seeing better days’ when he gave Paul Huggins the Independent Spirit Award struck a chord with him. Huggins, who was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer in 2022, started Rough Peel Music and Rough Peel Records and has owned Real Groovy Records in Christchurch since 2008.
“Warren begins reminiscing before ending by saying, ‘We’ve seen better days.’ It was a moment felt around the room and it stuck with me.”
The song is accompanied by a music video, created by Sports Team, showing Arahi wandering through the city at night, bathed in dark blues and blacks.
“Sometimes the writing and recording process is so quick I barely get time to really think about the song, but shooting a music video in the early morning hearing the song over and over really helped me sink into it and live it on camera,” says Arahi.
“The music video dances between the present day and the days we fondly look back on. The harshness of a solo journey contrasts with the warm memory of wandering with a companion who, in this music video, is portrayed by Liv Tennet.”
Recorded partly at home and with Jol Mulholland at The Lab, the song marks the beginning of an exciting new chapter for Arahi following his debut EP Revelator in 2022, recorded at Roundhead Studios and produced by Dave Khan.
“A common thread between my work as an artist is people, and more specifically their stories. I consider myself a storyteller and the music the vessel. ‘We’ve Seen Better Days’ is another important story to help us better understand ourselves and others,” he says.
Arahi’s “We’ve Seen Better Days” is out now.
