In 2016, Scottish folk music band Breabach released their fifth studio album, Astar. The title is Scottish Gaelic and translates as Journey. The album took inspiration from Breacbach’s many journeys in countries such as Australia, New Zealand, Norway and Québec. On that album, we heard the singing of Yirrmal Marika of Australia’s The Black Arm Band (an Aboriginal Australian and Torres Strait Islander music theatre organisation) and Maori tradition bearer Scotty Morrison who composed and sang Muriwai.
This collaboration followed on from the tri-nation Boomerang Project, featuring Breabach, Moana & The Tribe and more. The project was launched at Womad NZ in 2014 and went on to perform in theatres and at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games.
Further fruits from this collaboration can be heard on the latest single from Moana & The Tribe (featuring the award-winning Maori singer and songwriter Moana Maniapoto). Maiea was co-written by Moana, Scotty Morrison, Paddy Free and Megan Henderson of Breabach. The song features lyrics in Māori and Gaelic, and the accompanying video features footage shot in New Zealand and Scotland. The video was made with the help of Te Māngai Pāho who fund media that promotes Māori language & culture. The video also features Manawanui Maniapoto-Mills, Moana’s 13-year-old daughter; a budding actor who has made appearances in Beyond the Veil (2022), The Wilds (2020) and Ways to See (2019).
Earlier this year, Megan released her long-awaited solo-debut Pilgrim Souls, on which she was joined by Jack Smedley (fiddle), Mairi Campbell (viola), Su-a Lee (cello, saw), Olav Luksengård Mjelva (Hardanger) and Anna Massie (mandolin), Laura-Beth Salter (voice and mandolin) and Alistair Iain Paterson (piano, harmonium).
Read more about the video below.
On Maiea
‘Maiea’ (pronounced My-ear-ah) is a call for peace; an incantation in archaic Māori language to ancient deities and gods to soothe and calm a troubled mind. ‘Maiea’ is the fifth track from the upcoming album Ono by Moana & The Tribe. Due for release in 2023, Ono comprises six unique songs that celebrate te reo (the Maori language) and raise the visibility of endangered languages through collaborations with indigenous vocalists.
Moana and Megan first met as part of Boomerang, a collaboration between their respective bands and indigenous Australian artists including Shellie Morris, Casey Donovan and Djakapurra Munyarryun. Twenty-one artists hunkered down at the Muriwai Surf Club near Moana’s home to write and arrange songs before testing them out on the locals.
“At first I couldn’t see how we might pull this collaboration off,” recalls Moana. “We’d done lots with indigenous Australians but were wary of the bagpipes, didn’t know much about Scotland either.”
Copious amounts of kai and kōrero helped bridge the gap.
“That’s when we heard their stories of the Scottish being colonised by the English, struggling to keep their language alive – and that the bagpipes were a form of protest. Suddenly, we understood how bagpipes and haka could work together.”
Megan Henderson’s voice is a scene-stealer. Given Ono is a celebration of indigenous languages, she is an obvious choice to collaborate on ‘Maiea’. Her hauntingly beautiful lyrics complement the incantation delivered by Scotty Morrison as they both draw on the ancestors to placate and calm.
Maiea is available to stream now and can also be heard on our Regular Folk Playlist on Spotify | Apple
Links: http://www.moananz.com/ | https://www.breabach.com/