Lorde Drops Surprise EP of 'Solar Power' Tracks Performed in Māori Language
Paying homage to the singer’s New Zealand culture.
Lorde has dropped an EP with Māori renditions of singles from her new album Solar Power, the original version of which dropped last month. Entitled Te Ao Mārama, the lyrics of five songs were translated by Hana Mereraiha and the project features background vocals from Māori singers throughout.
Māori is the indigenous language of New Zealand. Lorde will be donating all of the proceeds of the EP to two charities in New Zealand: the conservation organization Forest and Bird and the Te Hua Kawariki Charitable Trust, which operates an educational center on ancestral history.
“Te ao Māori and tikanga Māori are a big part of why people who aren’t from here intuit our country to be kind of ‘magical,’ I think,” Lorde said in a statement. “I know I’m someone who represents New Zealand globally in a way, and in making an album about where I’m from, it was important to me to be able to say: this makes us who we are down here.”
The companion piece is made up of translations of “The Path,” “Solar Power,” “Stoned at the Nail Salon,” “Fallen Fruit,” and “Oceanic Feeling,” with each of the track’s titles also listed in Māori.
While the singer isn’t Māori herself, she explained that “all New Zealanders grow up with elements of [the Māori] worldview.”
“It’s also just a crazy beautiful language—I loved singing in it,” she continued. “Even if you don’t understand te reo, I think you’ll get a kick out of how elegant my words sound in it.”
Te Ao Mārama is available on streaming platforms, as well as on Lorde’s YouTube channel.
In other music news, G-Eazy announced a new album These Things Happen Too.
