Today (Friday September 1) conscious roots rockers Lost Tribe Aotearoa (Tūwharetoa) release Waiata Anthem, ‘Āio’ featuring Rei + accompanying music video.
‘Āio’ is Lost Tribe Aotearoa’s first ever te reo Māori waiata, and is a version of the first song the band ever released, ‘Irie’.
In June 2018 Lost Tribe Aotearoa (LTA) won Mai FM's Big Break Competition with 'Irie' which went on to reach #7 in the NZ Charts.
Lost Tribe Aotearoa share “we are super excited about the release of Āio as this song was the first song we created as a band. There is something special in the fact that this will be our first 100% te reo song. There is a lot of history that comes with this song and history is still being made from it.
This is our first waiata Maori, but is definitely not the last. We feel this song is really going to push us to write more songs in te reo and also help our own journeys into learning our language at a deeper level.
We want to see this song act as a catalyst for all Māori old and young to believe they can achieve their dreams. We know so many whanau who are suppressing their talents who need to take the plunge and show the world. A few years ago many of us in the band would never have dreamed of releasing a single song let alone one in our native tongue.”
The accompanying music video Directed by LTA long time collaborator Mumu Moore outlines the band's journey featuring past music videos cut in with new footage from the studio when recording ‘Āio’.
LTA worked in collaboration with the Raglan Horn Conglomerate and Rei on this track - bringing new dimensions to the te reo version.
“Revisiting this song for a second time in the studio, the feel of the song did change - it feels much more powerful in terms of its delivery, we also added our horn section (the Raglan Horn Conglomerate) which really puts the cherry on top in terms of sound.
We were also really excited about bringing in the talents of Rei who is a featured artist on this track. We have followed his mahi for years…to see his creativity expressed on the track is amazing. He also had some great input into the creative process when recording was taking place. He slotted into the tribe perfectly.”
To translate the lyrics LTA worked with Te Māngai Pāho who enabled them to undertake the 'TANIWHA Māori Music Wanaga' run by Matiu Sadd and Sam Taylor.
“Sam Taylor did his interpretation of the original song” share the band “we then went to the studio to demo and test the lyrics and tested these with our Mātanga reo Hani Totorewa and ended up with the final product.
Probably the most surprising aspect of the song was the actual translation used for 'Irie'. We were uncertain which route this would go down when translating and had a real risk of being the wrong word. But when we first saw the kupu Āio we knew this was the word to embody the meaning of the song. The word itself is used to describe a sense of calmness or peace which really resonated with us.
The meaning of the song also changes a bit as te reo is such a metaphorical language, but the overall themes we always leave up to the listener as each individual hears different messages.”
‘Āio’ was created for Waiata Anthems. “Being on this Waiata Anthems platform is a dream come true. Only a few years ago would only be a pipe dream, but with initiatives such as Waiata Anthems, has brought our language to the forefront of the music industry and now is very common to hear on mainstream radio. We have followed Waiata Anthems since its inception and are absolutely blown away that we get to participate.”
Lost Tribe Aotearoa are a family-based band who share conscious messages through their lyrics. Their sound is an eclectic mix of roots, dub, rock, ska and blues and they are well known for their high energy live shows and the contagious uplifting vibes their music evokes.
‘Lost & Found’a five track EP featuring hit singles ‘Reflections’, ‘Lost Generation 2.0’, ‘Legacy’ ‘Shaka’ and ‘Strange Things’ released in May this year.