Theia has set a date for her long-awaited debut album. The enigmatic New Zealand-born, Los Angeles-based artist will release GIRL, IN A SAVAGE WORLD on Friday, November 7th, and she’s teasing the record with a striking new single, “Patupaiarehe”.
The track takes its name from the mythological forest-dwelling folk of Aotearoa and taps into the country’s colonial history. “Patupaiarehe are extremely tap and known for having sweet, ethereal voices and for being consummate players of the kooaau and puutoorino flutes,” Theia says. “I love the imagery of a Patupaiarehe as kaitiaki (guardians) of the whenua (our Earth Mother, Papatuuaanuku). Stories from the past, of their hostility towards intruders, mirrors the ongoing battle and tensions we are still experiencing today.”
Pairing her hauntingly beautiful vocals and layered harmonies with poetic lyricism, “Patupaiarehe” blends ethereal alt-folk and art-rock. It’s the first taste of a record that has been years in the making. “The record has been a long time coming, but I really wanted to take my time with these songs. I’ve pored over every lyric, every melody, and every harmony,” explains Theia, who co-produced the album with Abraham Kunin (TE KAAHU, Jujulipps, Home Brew).
The sonic shift might surprise listeners who first discovered her through her alt-pop hits — tracks that landed her multiple award nominations, radio play across New Zealand, Australia and Asia, and praise from Billboard, Clash and Rolling Stone.
But her evolution has been evident since the release of Te Kaahu O Rangi under her reo Māori project TE KAAHU, a record Rolling Stone AU/NZ listed as one of the 80 Best New Zealand albums of the 2020s so far, and which later earned a Best New Artist gong at the Rolling Stone Aotearoa Awards.
It was also evident in last year’s stellar release “BALDH3AD!”, which Theia described as her musical assault on the plague of colonisation, “which has impacted our people since the 1800s and continues to threaten our language and culture under the current government… It’s an expression of seething anger but also a call to action for my fellow wāhine Māori, rangatahi Māori and Indigenous folks worldwide.”
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Over the past few years, Theia has carved out a rare duality: as Theia, she’s shared stages with Peaches, performed at Pride festivals in Los Angeles, Toronto and Miami, and delivered unapologetically queer anthems like “Girls!” and “Dollhouse”. As TE KAAHU, she’s captivated audiences with deeply spiritual waiata, including a spellbinding set at Auckland’s The Others Way Festival that left a packed Pitt Street Church in awed silence.
GIRL, IN A SAVAGE WORLD brings those worlds together, but not for the first time — they first collided on the Girl In a Savage World tour back in 2023, which saw her perform both Theia and TE KAAHU songs at festivals around Aotearoa.
Theia named that tour after a lyric from her 2023 single “Pray 4 Me”, a beautifully written ballad that could easily have belonged on Te Kaahu O Rangi. “Don’t pray for me or put me under ur spell / I’m just a girl living in a savage world / Living in a savage world”.
Due out November 7th, with a vinyl edition also confirmed, GIRL, IN A SAVAGE WORLD marks a major milestone for one of Aotearoa’s most fearless and gifted songwriters.
Theia’s “Patupaiarehe” is out now. GIRL, IN A SAVE WORLD is out November 7th.
