Marlon Williams is set to release his first Māori language album, Te Whare Tīwekaweka, on April 4th.
The album’s lead single, “Aua Atu Rā”, is out now. Inspired by 60s Māori showbands, the track is a melancholic reflection on isolation, featuring lyrics co-written by Marlon and Lyttelton-based rapper KOMMI. The song draws on the Māori proverb “he waka eke noa,” which translates to “we’re all in this boat together,” but offers a personal twist. Williams sings, “I am alone / in this boat / on the ocean / There is not a trace of wind / No, none at all.”
Williams explains that the single has been in the works since 2019. “‘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. 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.”
He credits KOMMI for helping him overcome self-doubt in writing songs in te reo Māori. “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. 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.”
Williams says he hopes the music can achieve something that words alone can’t. “I hope that music may do the mahi (work) that conversation cannot, and that it may broaden and deepen our sense of interconnectedness,” he says.
The album takes inspiration from the Māori proverb “Ko te reo Māori, he matapihi ki Te Ao Māori,” meaning “The Māori language is a window to the Māori world.” Williams says the process of creating these songs offered him a way to express himself—his joys, sorrows, and humour—in a way that felt deeply personal while also connecting him to his ancestors (tīpuna) and homeland (whenua).
Te Whare Tīwekaweka came together over five years, during which Williams connected with family, friends, and his hometown of Lyttelton after years spent traveling and performing around the world. Collaborating with his touring band The Yarra Benders, co-producer Mark Perkins (Merk), the He Waka Kōtuia singers, and even featuring Lorde on one track, the album blends folk, country, and bluegrass with pop and traditional Māori rhythms.
Marlon Williams’ “Aua Atu Rā” is out now. Te Whare Tīwekaweka is out April 4th
