New Zealand singer-songwriter Marlon Williams has shared another intriguing cut from his upcoming album, Te Whare Tīwekaweka. His latest track, “Kāhore He Manu E,” features guest vocals from friend and creative collaborator, Ella Yelich-O’Connor—better known as Lorde.
Cameras captured the recording process of the song, which is one of 14 tracks on Te Whare Tīwekaweka, which is Williams’ first Māori language album. It took five years to complete the record, which helped the multi-talented 34-year-old connect with his roots in a new, deeper way.
The richly emotive “Kāhore He Manu E” is propelled forward by gentle piano, intertwined with the pair’s raw and powerful vocals.
“‘Kāhore He Manu E’ was one of those gentle labours,” Williams shares in a statement. “It played itself out to me, easily and near complete from the first. It was also obvious who should be singing it; Ella’s voice in a very real sense wrote the song. The distinct and striking characteristics in her voice cornering and demanding of the melody and phrasing what onlyher voice could. Singing with Ella is incredible; the amount of mind she’s able to pour into the vessel. We got to know each other through sharing the highs and lows of touring life, and in a real sense this song is an ode to the colourful but grim wormhole of road life, to the friends made and lost in the folds of time, ‘visions lost in the blur.’”
“Over the course of several years I watched Marlon pull at the threads that became Te Whare Tīwekaweka,” adds Lorde. “I saw that the further he got into the album, the deeper my friend came to know himself, his whānau, and his world at large. Marlon is an undercover perfectionist, and he was never going to embark on this journey without turning over every stone, crafting complex waiata that speak to the past while also braiding in his characteristic humour and X-ray vision.
“Singing with Marlon is one of my favourite things to do on earth, whether we are tipsy backstage by a pool table or in a luscious studio, and I was honoured he asked me to sing with him on this album,” she continues. “I’m so proud of my friend.”
Watch the official music video for “Kāhore He Manu E” below:
Marlon Williams, Te Whare Tīwekaweka Track List:
- “E Mawehe Ana Au”
- “Kei Te Mārama”
- “Aua Atu Rā”
- “Me Uaua Kē”
- “Korero Māori”
- “Ko Tēnā Ua”
- “Whakamaettia Mai”
- “Ngā Ara Aroha”
- “Huri te Whenua” (feat. KOMMI)
- “Kuru Pounamu”
- “Kāhore He Manu E” (feat. Lorde)
- “Pānaki”
- “Rere Mai Ngā Rau”
- “Pōkaia Rā te Marama”
