28 October 2022 - 0 Comments

Olivia Foa’i releases a warm song of optimism and gratitude, written on the rainiest of days.

Following in the footsteps of her prior tracks like Hau La and My Way, Olivia is back with another feel-good, bilingual track featuring lyrics in both English and Gagana Tokelau; a Polynesian language with only 4,000 speakers.

Olivia is passionate about her Tokelau heritage and language, so it was appropriate that it was released in time for Aotearoa’s Tokelau Language Week celebrations.

Although ironically, the song was written on a stormy day during the second lockdown in Australia, Sunlight exudes undeniable warmth, gratitude, and optimism. “Sometimes we think that emotional depth lies only in sadness and hurt, but I think joy is profound. I think peace is incredibly profound. If you can still find light in all the darkness, if you can nurture peace amongst all the chaos. That’s deep.” - Olivia Foa’i (on the inspiration behind the song).

The song is written by Olivia and produced by her brother, Matatia. Mixed in with the modern drum kit is the Polynesian Pātē (log drum) played in Matatia's signature style. The upcoming music video will feature the rarely-seen-on-the-world-stage Tokelau fatele (Tokelau dance) and will carry the beauty - but also the uncertainty of preserving the culture/language in modern day.

The song and music video were made with the support of NZ on Air.

After Myriagon (No Photos Please), Sunlight will be the second single from Olivia’s 2023 sophomore album and follows the success of her debut album, Candid, which earned her the Tui for Best Pacific Album in the 2020 Aotearoa Music Awards and Best Female Artist in the Pacific Music Awards of the same year.

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