Te Whare Tīwekaweka by Marlon Williams

The Feature Album this week on 2SER 107.3 is Te Whare Tīwekaweka, the fourth solo record from Aotearoa musician Marlon Williams.

Words by Josh Ray

Language plays such an important part in expression that it feels cliched to mention and futile to bother trying to expand on. That is a job importantly beset upon linguistics and etymologists, and less importantly for senior high school english students. It’s not until an piece of art like Te Whare Tiwekaweka (“The Messy House”), an album sung almost entirely in Te Reo Māori, comes about where this actually becomes apparent. Having relocated back to New Zealand from Australia in the years prior to the release of this album (his fourth), Williams made a point to mark his reconnection with the country and the Māori language.

Of course, a realisation like this might become obvious when reading interviews and press material for this release (as one does when writing a brief review in its favour), but this is a product as much of the album’s grandiose sound, courtesy of a soaring string section and Williams’ powerful voice, as it is of research. It’s obvious from the opening track ‘E Mawehe Ana Au’ – a song exempt of instrumentation, featuring only Williams’ voice – that this album exists for the Māori language.

Te Whare Tīwekaweka is out now Independently on vinyl and digital.