Waiata Anthems - Lorde excerpt

Television (Excerpts) – 2022

In 2021 solo artist Lorde sang in te reo for Te Ao Mārama, an EP made up of five songs first heard on her third album Solar Power. She worked alongside Hana Mereraiha, Sir Tīmoti Kāretu, Dame Hinewehi Mohi, and Hēmi Kelly. In these excerpts from the second season of series Waiata Anthems, Lorde talks with Mereraiha about why she chose the intimate 'Oceanic Feelings' for the project, and expresses her enthusiasm for Mereraiha's work; and Waiata executive producer (and musician) Dame Hinewehi Mohi reflects on her role in bringing artists and mātanga reo (language experts) together.

Many things revealed themselves slowly to me while I was making this album, but the main realisation by far was that much of my value system around caring for and listening to the natural world comes from traditional Māori principles. There’s a word for it in te reo: kaitiakitanga, meaning 'guardianship or caregiving for the sky, sea and land'. I’m not Māori, but all New Zealanders grow up with elements of this worldview.
– Songwriter Lorde (Ella Yelich-O'Connor) on making te reo EP Te Ao Mārama, Stuff, 9 September 2021