Christchurch-born Māori singer TE KAAHU has released her debut album Te Kaahu O Rangi as a tribute to her ancestors.
Taupiri is a single from TE KAAHU’s premiere album, Te Kaahu O Rangi, released earlier this year.
TE KAAHU has been releasing music for the last couple of years and it’s all been building up to this stunning and profound body of work filled with simple and elegant instrumentation and textured layers of the sweetest vocals you can imagine.
The album as a whole is quite the emotional journey with dynamics that will soar through your entire body.
This unbelievable vocalist is a testament to how quality allows for simplicity. She honours the craft of Māori songwriting and storytelling.
TE KAAHU said of the album that it was “songs my grandmothers and aunties would’ve cried to, danced to, and loved”.
The album is this beautiful mix of ancient sounds and nods to a modern era.
Taupiri is sonically one of the more traditional songs on the album and honestly, will blow you away as a listener.
Listening as a non-Māori speaker, Taupiri sounds relaxing, familiar and comforting. TE KAAHU said: “For hundreds of years Taupiri (ancestral mountain) has fostered and looked after my ancestors from birth and serves as their final resting place in death.
“With my great grandparents and beyond buried in her embrace. When I climb Taupiri to visit my nannies, I feel so held and safe. ‘He rangimārie i ngā wā katoa koe e taku maunga tapu’ you are of peaceful and caring nature at all times, my sacred mountain.”
Listen to Te Kaahu O Rangi in full below.
