Āio ana is a song of peace; a lullaby for some, a meditation for others. It is the fourth track from the upcoming album Ono by Moana & The Tribe. Due for release in 2022, Ono comprises six unique songs that celebrate and raise the visibility of endangered indigenous languages.
The reo lyrics of ‘Āio ana’ were penned by Scotty Morrison, with music written by Paddy Free and Moana Maniapoto. The Sámi language of Northern Europe is the contribution of guest vocalist and iconic Sámi singer Mari Boine (Norway).
Mari Boine has been at the top of her game since the eighties as one of the first artists to incorporate the traditional Sámi joik (pronounced yoik) into contemporary music through vocables; using sounds rather than lyrics to tell stories. Colonisation and Christianity pushed the cultural and spiritual tradition underground. Throughout her career, Mari has used her songs to raise the visibility of this unique musical art form, the language and the Sámi people themselves. In ‘Āio ana’, Mari combines vocables and lyrics to conjure up nature and the environment.
Moana and Mari first met at Womad NZ 2013, then again at Riddu Riddu (Norway) when Moana & the Tribe performed.
They co-wrote the song ‘Twin Soul’ for Boine’s first English-speaking album See The Woman (2017). That same year, Moana and Paddy recorded ‘Āio ana’ with Mari during the Skabmagovat Film Festival (Finland).
Māori and Sámi have a long and close relationship, both raising their respective flags annually on February 6th. There is a Kohanga reo in Inari, the small village inside the Arctic Circle that hosts Skabmagovat. This collaboration symbolises that.
THE LYRICS
Āio ana te rangi
Let there be calm across the heavens
Āio ana te whenua
Let there be calm across the land
Āio ana te ao katoa
Let there be calm across the world
Āio ana te moe a te kuru pounamu
Let there be calm as this precious jewel sleeps
I roto i te māī
Cradled within
Te matihere
The great affection
Me te māoriori e
And the serenity
Kia au, kia au, kia au te moe
Wrapped in the mist of sleep
PREVIOUS ONO SINGLE RELEASES
AUSTRALIA
‘Huakirangi features guest vocalist Shellie Morris. The award winning Indigenous Australian is credited with creating music and songs in around 17 Aboriginal languages, many considered “sleeping”. In ‘Huakirangi’, the two women explore the relationship between Sun and Moon through both Māori and Yanyuwa languages and stories.
Watch ‘Huakirangi’ Video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0TCB0uyArIc
TAIWAN
'Tōku Reo' is a collaboration with Inka Mbing from the Atayal tribe, one of sixteen Indigenous tribes in Taiwan. As with Māori, many tribal communities in Taiwan were punished for speaking their native language in school. Inka is celebrated for helping keep the language alive. In ‘Tōku Reo’, Scotty Morrison explores the spiritual origins of Māori that began as “chattering between the gods.”
Watch 'Tōku Reo' Video Here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYzzeJr0PkEGZO9_uA4Yoag
CANADA
‘Tū,’ is a celebration of the traditional Māori ritual of tohi. This lyric is based on a pre-European incantation designed to instil insight and wisdom, implant courage and fortitude - in a newborn. This track features award-winning Canadian singer-songwriter Jani Lauzon of the Metis people, whose people were often ridiculed for speaking Michif.
Watch ‘Tū’ Video Here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvmRpFO11rA
THE CONCEPT
ONO means six in Māori. It is also the title of an album project that begins in Aotearoa/NZ and features six songs. Each showcases the voices, language and culture of six indigenous women artists from countries in which Moana & the Tribe has performed.
From the Arctic winter of Norway through to the highlands of Scotland; across Canada into Ontario; from the misty mountains of Taipei and into Australia, songwriters/producers Moana Maniapoto (Moana & the Tribe), Paddy Free (Pitch Black) and Scotty Morrison mix sublime singing and chanting with electronica and dub to create an album that is a sign for these times.
Indigenous cultures continue to draw inspiration from each other and share a world view in which there is a constant communion between the human, spiritual and natural worlds to ensure balance. In an increasingly unstable and highly competitive world, music can build bridges, celebrate diversity & foster understanding.
ONO is about building connections.
MOANA MANIAPOTO
Te Arawa, Ngāti Tūwharetoa
Moana Maniapoto is a singer, songwriter, documentary maker, journalist and leader of the bands Moana & the Moahunters, then Moana & the Tribe.
In 2005, she was recognised for her ‘outstanding leadership and contribution to the development of new directions in Māori art’ by Creative NZ. Recognised as an Art Laureate, Moana was inducted into the NZ Music Hall of Fame (APRA-Amcos) in 2016. In 2019, her debut album Tahi (1993) was named the Taite NZ Classic Album Award (Independent Recorded Music NZ).
Moana & the Tribe have played countless international stages across 30 countries over the last 20 years, taking their haka-funk-dub-fusion and politically charged music to the Herodus Atticus (Athens), Sydney Opera House (Australia), Montreux Jazz Festival (Switzerland) and Sziget (Budapest) to name a few.
She is currently producing her 6th studio album Ono, releasing collaborations with indigenous Australian artist Shellie Morris and Sámi icon Mari Boine during 2021. Her band most recently performed their show My Name is Moana for the 2021 Auckland Arts Festival.
Offstage, Moana directed a documentary series on treaty settlements called The Negotiators, a finalist in the 2020 NZ TV Awards for Best Māori Programme.
She is the host and associate producer of Te Ao with Moana on Māori Television. It earned her the Supreme Award at the Māori Journalism Awards (2020) and was voted Best Current Affairs Series (2021 Voyager Media Awards).
Moana is a co-writer, vocalist and co-producer of the album Ono.
SCOTTY TE MANAHAU MORRISON
Te Arawa
Scotty Morrison is a highly qualified and experienced speaker, tutor, writer and advocate of the Māori language. He is a television newsreader on the daily Māori news programme on TVOne, Te Kārere; presenter of TVOne’s weekly current affairs programme Marae; newsreader/senior journalist/editor at Radio Waatea and is language consultant on numerous TV programmes. Scotty was the lead consultant and presenter for the 2020 TV series, Origins.
Scotty worked for many years as a tutor in Māori language at Massey University and at Unitec, where he was Adjunct Professor and Director of Māori Student and Community Engagement. Author of The Raupō Phrasebook of Modern Māori, and the Māori Made Easy series, his combined works have sold over 150,000 copies.
He and his wife Stacey also founded ‘Māori 4 Grown Ups’, a community group encouraging New Zealanders to learn and speak the language.
Scotty played Antonio in Don Selwyn’s groundbreaking film The Maori Merchant of Venice and was Agamemnon in the stage show The Maori Troilus and Cressida, which toured to The Globe in London.
He is also a recognised haka exponent, and as a lyricist he has won national awards for best Māori song (Te Maioha award) and best action song in the National Kapa Haka championships. Scotty was a member of Moana & the Moahunters as well as Moana & the Tribe.
Scotty is a co-writer and vocalist for the concept album Ono.
PADDY FREE
Paddy Free is one of New Zealand's most respected composers. He has recorded and performed internationally with his duo Pitch Black and as a solo artist, written music for film, theatre, dance, television and multimedia art. He is an award-winning producer and engineer for the likes of Crowded House, Killing Joke, Neil Finn, Kora, The Adults, Oceania, Tiki Taane, Richard Nunns, Moana & the Tribe, and the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, to name just a few.
Paddy was the co-producer and co-engineer of Salmonella Dub's Killervision, One Drop East and Freak Controller albums, and producer of Inside the Dub Plates which has sold over four times platinum. Twice-nominated for Best Producer at the New Zealand Music Awards, in 2002 he was awarded Best Engineer.
As a composer for arts and contemporary dance projects, Paddy has worked with Atamira Dance Company, Mau and Black Grace - and composed soundtracks for installation works by Rachael Rakena for the Sydney and Venice Biennales.
However it is Pitch Black, with Michael Hodgson, for which Paddy is best known for having played across NZ and Australia, the UK, Europe Japan and the USA while releasing six sonically cutting edge albums.
Paddy is a member of Moana and the Tribe, co-wrote and produced the album Rima. He performs with the show My Name is Moana which focuses on environmental issues.
Paddy is the producer and a co-writer for the concept album Ono.
NZ Media: please contact Lisa Paris - lisa@thelabel.co.nz