20 August 2021 - 0 Comments

Silver Scroll APRA Maioha Award and APRA Best Children’s Award Finalists, Aro, are taking their music on the road this spring to celebrate and share the stories of our waters, in support of their latest project, single + EP release He Wai.

Their first single Tuna off their forthcoming EP He Wai is Out Today!

LISTEN HERE

Aro are performing across the whenua, throughout September & October, visiting coastal communities, big & small, and other intimate venues, near bodies of water, as part of their He Wai National release tour. The tour intentionally coincides with Mahuru Maori and Te Wiki o te Reo Maori which celebrates the Maori language.

There is a Maori legend about the great ancestor of tuna (eels) who suggested things to get their way. This song leans into that story and how eels tend to hide in dark places. “I think we can all relate to a time where, somewhere in the shadow of the heart, we wanted to do something but we knew it wasn’t right. Sometimes we still end up doing it, and it can be really hard to forgive ourselves, or others”.

Tuna is a combination of inspiration drawn from acoustic kiwi pop music and rhythms and breaths of taonga puoro. The song is intentionally thick with rhythms as the story progresses and the tension rises, and it doesn’t really settle or resolve. But there is light in the bridge!

He Wai is the third major project out of five for Silver Scroll APRA Maioha Award and APRA Best Children’s Award Finalists – Aro. Each project has featured a new music release (an album or EP) and these new waiata are then used as a part of the education resources & programme created for schools & Kura Kaupapa Maori. During the spring tour, Aro will continue on with their established education programme within schools around the country, proudly supported by the NZ Music Commission.

Husband and wife duo, Charles (Ngapuhi, Te Rarawa, Ngati Te Ata, Ngati Mutunga) and Emily Looker, proudly share a passion for the power of language and music to tell stories and remind us of our cultural identity. The moving new EP, He Wai celebrates 5 waiata inspired and guided by our relationship to te taiao and what we can learn from it about ourselves and each other. He Wai, is the bands third project, following Manu and He Manu Ano.

More info on the Tour is here: www.aromusic.co.nz/shows

Website - https://aromusic.co.nz/

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/aromusicao/

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/aromusicao/

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