Riqi Harawira - Single Review: Suffering
Riqi Harawira has made his calling an open book that has dealt with his personal experience of addiction and mental health challenges.
His latest single Suffering, is his most powerful statement yet, precisely and eloquently encapsulating aspects of the recovery journey.
The song itself is a classic churning guitar rock anthem with a powerful vocal that sets out the narrative: "Some days I look inside and there I find some things I might not like coz I can feel, can feel my fear. It’s coming here There’s a place that I have been that I have found my suffering."
Although Harawira, reflects from the position of a recovering addict, his message is a timely one. We are all, in our own ways, addicted to something whether it be a substance, careers, money, status, sex, the unexamined thoughts and emotions that separate us from each other or anything that carries with it the underlying belief that our happiness is dependent upon something external to us.
There’s a soulful organ solo that precedes a poignant line – "but some days I’ll reach inside and I’ll survive on things I find there. I will not fear to see my fear that sometimes comes near" – which is a reminder that fear and it’s multiplicity of variations – sadness, anger, unhappiness, hatred etc – are not fixed states but often require our willingness to challenge and 'shed light', so to speak, on the underlying narratives and our emotional investment in them, in order to be free of them.
Suffering is ultimately a redemption song fashioned in the fires of one who has experienced it and found a way through it.
About Riqi Harawira
Riqi is a lover of guitar and passionate about playing it. A multi-instrumentalist, Riqi frequently melds te reo Maori and English with rock and grunge music, dabbling with covers of Jimi Hendrix, Tama Renata, Joe Satriani and performing the NZ national anthem and the Last Post with the healing voice of his guitar he calls Mareikura (named after a Ngati Kahungunu princess).
Immersed in music from a young age, his father, Rangi Hadfield (Rangi Harawira) was an international Maori entertainer who performed in over 65 countries and who taught Riqi the guitar.
Visit the muzic.net.nz Profile for Riqi Harawira
Other Reviews By malexa
DateMonthYear - EP Review: The Exodus Suite
22 May 2021 // by malexa
The metamorphosis of the genesis of Exodus into The Exodus Suite while not quite of Biblical proportions is nevertheless on a grand scale. These five degrees of separation, with accompanying videos (the final installment – which is on its way) might share the same source material but, as always, DateMonthYear founder Trevor Faville twists and shape-shifts with an informed sense of musical invention.
Read More...
13 May 2021 // by malexa
It’s still very much a brave new world when it comes to releasing music with its ever diminishing returns for physical product and the pecuniary stranglehold the major streaming services have on the industry. That’s why Tauranga-based boutique label Blood & Wires deserves a huge thumbs-up for its innovative and down-to-earth but wildly musically ambitious launch.
Read More...
Metanoia - Single Review: Sonder
13 May 2021 // by malexa
It’s always handy for a reviewer to have a bit of background information about an artist to get a creative context of where they have come from and where they might be heading. Metanoia is a bit of a mystery in this respect.
Read More...
Mark de Clive-Lowe - EP Review: Midnight Snacks Vol.1
16 Apr 2021 // by malexa
Mark de Clive-Lowe’s musical palette has always been so refreshing engaging and diverse that each new release is like receiving a care package – you don’t know what’s inside but you know you’ll find comfort in it. The Los Angeles-based Kiwi musician, DJ and night club and record label owner has been particularly busy in the last few years with albums and EPs ranging from the chillingly melodious jazz quartet outing Live At The Blue Whale, the steamingly funky club party Church Sessions with various cohorts and the conceptual Heritage I and II, which celebrated his bi-cultural heritage (he is half-Japanese).
Read More...
Serpent Dream - EP Review: Nova
11 Apr 2021 // by malexa
Serpent Dream's Nova is the debut release on Blood & Wires. The Tauranga-based boutique label was founded by Scott Brown last year with the express aim of raising the “profile of New Zealand based electronic and experimental artists.
Read More...
Mecuzine - Single Review: Blue Skies
15 Mar 2021 // by malexa
The slim-line edition of Mecuzine - brothers Joseph and Tony Johns – seems to have gained more than it might have seemingly lost. Blues Skies is the second single released since five became two and it’s another brooding, sonic masterpiece with an but almost tragically self-effacing punch line: “She wanted him to stay/Instead she got me/What an unlucky break”.
Read More...
Ant Tarrant - Single Review: Candle Lights
09 Mar 2021 // by malexa
Ant Tarrant has served his apprenticeship and it shows. Now back in New Zealand after following his muse to Central America and the US, where he was mentored in the art of song-writing and production, he’s settled in Kare Kare and opened up a music studio.
Read More...
Naircol - Single Review: Turbo Outrun
04 Feb 2021 // by malexa
In an interview with Naircol, following the release of his debut album Isolate late last year, he put collaborative ventures at the top of his wish list. It seems Santa Claus came calling in the form of Canadian producer Tokyo Rat, the result of which is the dynamic driving anthem Turbo Outrun.
Read More...
Most Viewed Artists
Latest Galleries
NZ Top 10 Singles
- APT.
ROSÉ And Bruno Mars - DIE WITH A SMILE
Lady Gaga And Bruno Mars - BIRDS OF A FEATHER
Billie Eilish - TASTE
Sabrina Carpenter - I LOVE YOU, I'M SORRY
Gracie Abrams - ESPRESSO
Sabrina Carpenter - SAILOR SONG
Gigi Perez - LOSE CONTROL
Teddy Swims - A BAR SONG (TIPSY)
Shaboozey - GOOD LUCK, BABE!
Chappell Roan
More Content on muzic.net.nz
Google Site Search
100% New Zealand Music
All content on this website is copyright to muzic.net.nz and other respective rights holders. Redistribution of any material presented here without permission is prohibited.
Report A Problem
