18 September 2024 - 0 Comments

Rob Thorne (Ngāti Tumutumu, Ngāti Tamaterā) is a renowned composer, performer, improvisor and collaborator based in Te Whanganui-a-Tara (Wellington).

Known as an anthropologist and specialist Rob Thorne M.A. is a diverse and original explorer in the evolving journey of taonga pūoro (traditional Māori instruments), fusing these ancient voices with modern sounds and technology. 2024 has seen Thorne sign with Sunreturn as well as gain a nomination for Tohu Paerangi (Best Original Music in a Series Award) at this year’s APRA Silver Scroll Awards for his work on ‘Black Coast Vanishings’ in collaboration with Sunreturn label mate Karl Sölve Steven.

Today Rob Thorne and Delaney Davidson release a new single Ake Ake (Mauri Ora). Coinciding with Te Wiki O Te Reo Māori Ake Ake (Mauri Ora) sees Rob Thorne continuing to explore the boundaries of contemporary Māori music.

STREAM - ROB THORNE & DELANEY DAVIDSON - AKE AKE (MAURI ORA)

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Reminiscent of the rock & roll that emanated from New York lofts in the late 60's, Ake Ake (Mauri Ora) drives along, propelled by Delaney Davidson’s steady beat and loose, wiry guitar playing. Rob Thorne sings in te reo Māori with conviction before delivering a wailing pūtōrino performance evocative of howling guitar feedback.

“Ake Ake (Mauri Ora) is one song in a now large canon of unreleased and unfinished material that I've been writing and working on since 2020,” says Thorne. “This new direction is about looking at who I am and all I've done creatively and trying to weave them together in a way that expresses all that I am as a person and an artist more fully, more completely, and more authentically. The songwriting, the solo acoustic, the free noise, the rock & roll, the taonga pūoro, who I am as Māori, the mātauranga, māramatanga, the reo, the simple and the complicated.”

“The intention with these songs has been to try and open myself more to who I am and what I do naturally, and be in service to what comes through, letting it come out as it is, rather than filtering or judging the work as it comes. That said, what has happened is that I have found myself bogged down after writing in the judgement of my production skills, so rather than judging in the creative act of writing, I have become extremely critical of my ability and work in the post/production phase and as a result, unable to release the work. Ake Ake (Mauri Ora) is about taking that step, to break the spell, to get the ball rolling, to push one out and release something. To finally manifest what that creative act was destined for - to be shared.”

“Ake Ake (Mauri Ora) was written out of an intuition, a waking dream, that was seeking to understand what mauri is and does. In the vision I perceived my mauri as a conscious spark that entered the whare tangata, the womb, at the very moment of my fertilisation. As a conscious entity, this mauri immediately begins to manifest, build, a physicality, a body, around itself, like a whare, to protect, embody and carry itself, as a fire, out into the human world, to become. This act of conscious creation never stops, continuing across my entire life, in every fractal moment, until my body dies, upon when the fire that has burned and grown within is scattered - now unprotected - blown by ngā hau e wha, back out into the cosmos, again. Forever onward, forever upward, my mauri seeks and manifests life, for that is what it is.”

After a live performance from Delaney Davidson continued to resonate with Rob years later, he reached out to see if there was the possibility of collaboration. Timing couldn’t be better as Davidson was based in Wellington with the Toi Rauwhārangi Residency at Massey University, with a focus on building a stronger national identity by forging visible bonds between Māori and Pakeha through exploring multidisciplinary creative projects.

“Delaney is a hard working, fast moving workhorse. He rocks in, and rolls out,” says Thorne. “That kind of energy is exactly what I was needing to remind me of how I used to do things when I wrote songs and played in bands. It’s exactly how I operate with taonga pūoro, but somewhere in the process of writing these songs and making a conscious effort to work on crafting and arranging songs, I’ve lost that ability, or confidence to let it fly, get it down, and then let it go. Delaney brought that reminder like a freight train bringing the goods."

Reflecting on the finished track Thorne notes “Ake Ake (Mauri Ora) is not the song I was expecting to be releasing first. Nor was it the style I was expecting to be releasing first either. A lot of these new songs are very measured, very gentle, quiet, and controlled. And here is Ake Ake (Mauri Ora): very free, wild, loose, loud. There is so much personal history already wrapped up in this one song finally seeing the light of day. It carries a lot of vulnerability, and anxiety, around my reo, whether it is worthy, whether I am worthy. And for those reasons, I'm also eager to get this whole kaupapa rolling. Put this pou in the whenua so, I’m hopeful. These songs are hopeful, they’re positive, they're about life, they're about loving, they are about making change, big and small, alone and together, for ourselves and each other, they're about being Māori, defining who we are, who we want to be, and how we can make that happen. They're about a struggle and a revolution that is ongoing, and how we have no choice but to keep moving ever upward, upward forever, into that world we need and want. Ake ake, mauri ora!”

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