In this episode of Party Trick, alt-pop artist and lifelong thrifter Theia shares her best advice for shopping second-hand.

In the English language, Christchurch-born musician Theia has written bold and brash lyrics such as: “I am not your princess / Stay out of my business” and “If you come for me I’ll eat you alive”. In te reo Māori, under her new project Te Kaahu o Rangi, she has written soft, delicate lyrics such as “Tiakina mai hei korowai / Whakairotia ahau ki tō aroha (Guard me like a korowai / I’ve been ornamented with your love).”

Over the last few years, Em Walker (Waikato-Tainui, Ngāti Tipa) has released countless pop bangers (‘Celebrity’, ‘Candy’, ‘Not Your Princess’) under her alt-pop Theia moniker, often drawing comparisons to Charli XCX and PC Music. Te Kaahu o Rangi is the name of her new reo Māori project, which she has launched during Te Wiki o te Reo Māori.

“Te Kaahu is all about reclaiming our traditional ways of writing, and putting that to modern instrumentation,” says Walker. “I hope that it’s something I will follow for the rest of my life, and will be a gift to my people, but also that it will be accessible and listened to by non-Māori as well and help to normalise te reo.”

As someone who navigates the world in both te reo Māori and English, Walker can feel the differences of experiencing life in each language.

“Te reo is a phenomenally beautiful language where everything we do, if you’re harnessing that traditional way of speaking, is all about metaphors and forming pictures. It’s very poetic.

“I definitely feel softer, more passionate, more in touch with my emotions when I speak in te reo.”

She adds, “I think also that’s what was lost in colonisation. If our language is very emotional then our culture was very open and inclusive, and talking about how you feel and expressing your emotions, whether positive or negative, through our music and our haka. That’s what got lost when our language was taken away - or banned, rather.”

Having learnt te reo through kapa haka as a kid, and spending lots of time with her kui (grandma), Walker decided to deepen her knowledge and study Te Reo Rangatira and Māori and Indigenous Studies at the University of Canterbury. “I knew the informal reo, if you like, but I wanted to really school myself in the old-school traditional ways of speaking.”

Now, she’s brought her learnings of the traditional language into her songwriting. She wrote ‘E Taku Huia Kaimanawa’ (My Treasured One), her first waiata under her Te Kaahu project, about losing and grieving her kui.

Walker says that when she writes music in te reo, she is also thinking and seeing the world in te reo, which makes it natural to communicate in metaphors and imagery. She explains how in ‘E Taku Huia Kaimanawa’ she incorporates kupu whakarite (metaphor) by representing the love and protection of her kui through a korowai, “something that shelters you from the elements.”

She also includes whakataukī (proverbs) in her waiata, including this one from Ngāti Toa: “Tiwhatiwha te pō, tiwhatiwha te ao.” Grief in the dark, grief in the light.

Walker says it’s taken four years for her to become ready to process her feelings and make music about the loss of her kui. And when she was ready, communicating in te reo and combining kupu whakarite, whakataukī, pepeha (tribal sayings) and the dialect of her iwi Tainui enabled her to render those feelings into music. The result is a stunning waiata where you hear the grief and love in the delicate melody and Walker’s gossamer vocals. However, the waiata also rewards delving into the lyrics to explore the poetic ways Walker has illustrated that grief and love with her reo.

Below are the lyrics of ‘E Taku Huia Kaimanawa’, first in te reo and then translated into English by Walker, while trying to stay true to the whakaaro Māori (Māori thought process). You can listen to ‘E Taku Huia Kaimanawa’ on streaming platforms now.

E Taku Huia Kaimanawa

TE KAAHU

Kei whea rā koe e te tau?

Mokemoke nei ahau 

Hotu ana te ngākau 

E kore e warewaretia 

Tukuna atu koe kia rerea

Ki tua o te ārai

Noho ki te pō

Tiakina mai hei korowai 

Whakairotia ahau ki tō aroha

Tiwhatiwha te pō, tiwhatiwha te ao

He hononga tangata e kore e motu

Hoki mai rā e taku huia kaimanawa

E hoki mai rā taku huia kaimanawa

Kei konei tonu ahau

E apakura ana mōu auē

E kore e warewaretia 

Tukuna atu koe kia rerea

Ki tua o te ārai

Noho ki te pō

Tiakina mai hei korowai 

Whakairotia ahau ki tō aroha

Tiwhatiwha te pō, tiwhatiwha te ao

He hononga tangata e kore e motu 

E taku huia kaimanawa

E hoki mai rā auē

(Translation into English) 

Where are you my love?

I am lonely

With a throbbing heart

Never forgotten

I should release you to soar

Beyond the veil

To rest in the night

Guard me like a korowai

I’ve been ornamented with your love

Grief in the dark, grief in the light 

Our bond cannot be severed 

Return to me, my treasured one

Return to me, my treasured one

I am still here

Crying out for you 

Never forgotten

I should release you to soar

Beyond the veil

To rest in the night

Guard me like a korowai

I’ve been ornamented with your love

Grief in the dark grief in the light 

Our bond cannot be severed 

My treasured one

Oh, return to me