19 May 2011 - 0 Comments

Apanui (aka Ngahiwi Apanui) is set to release his fouth studio album Matariki on May 30^th. The 11 track release has been recorded fully in Te Reo Mâori.

Matariki is an expression of Apanui’s bicultural musical heritage andfeatures many themes, including Te Reo Mâori (the Mâori language), whânau (family), the environment, unity, death and peace. Each theme has a traditional and a contemporary interpretation. Six songs that feature on Matariki are performed as song poetry – five of which are originals composed by Apanui.

A fluent speaker of Te Reo Mâori, Apanui is a proud advocate of the Mâori language. “Te Reo Mâori is a part of who I am and I want to share it with the rest of the country,” he says. It’s this concern that underpins the title track ‘Matariki’ where he makes a passionate plea to the people of New Zealand to come together to learn and celebrate “New Zealand’s indigenous language.”

Apanui’s first solo album, Te Hono ki te Kâinga (the link with the homeland),was well received in 1990 and he was awarded a Tui in 2003 for album E Tau Nei (the best Mâori Language Album) and the APRA Maioha Award in the same year for ‘Whârikihia’, one of the songs from the album.

Apanui was a founding member, composer and leader of what many regard as the first Kaupapa Mâori reggae band, Aotearoa. The band nurtured a new generation of contemporary Mâori musicians including Moana Maniapoto, Maaka Macgregor and Ruia Aperahama.

Matariki will be available in-stores and from digital retailers from Monday 30^th May.

See Apanui live: Matariki Album Release Show -Te Papa, Thursday 16 June

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