September 10, 2021
Lorde embraces te reo Māori
Ella Yelich-O’Connor, known by the performance name Lorde, has turned five of the songs on her new Solar Power album into a te reo Māori companion piece called Te Ao Mārama.
The project was steered by Apra Amcos Māori development leader Dame Hinewehi Mohi, with the songs translated by Hana Mereraiha, Hēmi Kelly and Sir Timoti Karetu, and guest appearances from Bic Runga, Marlon Williams and Mohi herself.
In a post yesterday announcing the surprise release, Yelich-O’Connor says making Te Ao Marama she realised much of her value system around caring for and listening to the natural world comes from traditional Māori principles such as kaitiakitanga.
She said te ao Māori and tikanga Māori are a big part of why people from elsewhere see New Zealand as somehow magical, and as someone who represents New Zealand globally it was important to be able to say: “this makes us who we are down here.”
All proceeds from Te Ao Mārama will go to Forest and Bird and Te Hua Kawariki, the marae-based charitable trust behind Hokianga’s Manea Footprints of Kupe project.
Yelich-O’Connor also shared the story of the making of Te Ao Mārama with Leonie Hayden of The Spinoff Atea.