TE KAAHU Unveils 'I Roto I Te Poo, I Roto I Te Ao' EP & Video

Theia (Waikato-Tainui, Ngaati Tiipaa) blesses the closing days of 2024 with an intimate six track collection from her Best Independent Debut Award-winnning te ao Māori songwriting project TE KAAHU. The new EP centres around title track 'I Roto I Te Poo, I Roto I Te Ao' — meaning in English 'In The Darkness, In The Light' — a radiant acoustic guitar / vocals ballad out today with equally luminous visuals, directed by Nas Nixx Hexxin and made with support from NZ On Air. That waiata is accompanied by hushed, poetic passages spoken in te reo and English, plus the beautifully succinct 'Taku Makau'. Written while the Down Under & UTR guest star was artist in residence at Massey University in Te Whanganui-a-Tara last year, experience I Roto I Te Poo, I Roto I Te Ao below...

"I really enjoy exploring the art of Māori songwriting and one of the beautiful aspects of this is that not all waiata have to be a certain length or structured in the way that we’ve come to know songs in the Pākehā sense. These waiata are intended to be listened to and experienced side by side, but they also stand alone in their own right.

One of the things I’ve always enjoyed about performing TE KAAHU live, is taking the audience on a journey and sharing with them the meaning of the songs and their stories. At shows, I’ll often recite the lyrics from certain songs, and it’s always met with such a warm reception. So I’ve done that here on this recording".

'I Roto I Te Poo, I Roto I Te Ao' is out today on major streaming platforms.