Alt-pop singer Theia shares her perfect weekend playlist.
Theia has been musing on being in the eye of multiple political storms. The Christchurch-born singer has been living in the US since March, witnessing firsthand the highs and lows of the nation’s upcoming election, while coming to grips with tensions at home in Aotearoa, and war in Gaza.
She describes her current and upcoming music as “political and impassioned,” and is gearing up to release more waiata under her other stage name, TE KAAHU. “I’ve explored different production but the sensibilities of layered, warm harmonies and dreamy tones are there,” she says. “The kaupapa that runs through all waiata is love for one’s ancestors.”
She promises the record will be “soothing”, especially coming off the back of the release of her most recent single BALDH3AD in mid-September. She describes the song as a “musical assault on the plague of colonisation and the ever present ripple effects, which continue to threaten our livelihoods and culture under the current government.”
“It’s an expression of seething anger and a message of solidarity to my fellow wāhine Māori, rangatahi Māori and indigenous folks worldwide,” Theia says. As for the perfect setting to listen to these tunes in, Theia “highly advise[s] you to thrash BALDH3AD! on Sunday November 10th during the Hīkoi Mō Te Tiriti.”
Her perfect weekend looks a little bit different in the States, where travelling to new places for performances offers a chance to explore a new rohe. “If I’m not working then I love to go to the movies and get coffee and people watch! Here in LA, my favourite cinema is AMC at The Grove and fave cafe is La La Land Kind,” she says. “They employ foster youth and their mission statement is ‘just be nice!'”
Here are the songs inspired by stories of resistance and hope that make for perfect weekend listening for Theia.
Bob Marley – ‘War’
With a portion of Haile Selassie’s speech to the United Nations sung in this iconic waiata from Uncle Bob, I am empowered by these words: “Until the philosophy which holds one race superior and another inferior is finally and permanently discredited and abandoned – everywhere is war”. I’m angered. We must not allow our country and the human rights of our indigenous people to regress to the dark ages.
Elyanna – ‘Olive Branch (Ghosn Zeytoun)’
“Words aren’t enough, what can I say? … In the land of peace, peace is dead”. Freedom for Palestine is freedom for all, do not turn a blind eye to war crimes and genocide. We must not let our hearts be hardened, but instead be ignited to stand in solidarity with our whanaunga across the oceans.
Whirimako Black – ‘Kei Hea Taku Reo’
“Kei hea taku reo? Karanga ki ōku tīpuna, hoki mai hoki mai e taku reo rangatira” – meaning “where is my language? I call out to my ancestors. Return to me, return to me, my chiefly language.” Whaea Whirimako’s kupu speak of the grief, and of the trauma, of our grandparents beaten for speaking their native language and robbed of their birth right. We’ve got to keep the pressure on this current government so that we don’t lose all the good work that’s been done in the last 40 years or so to revitalise our language.
Tracy Chapman – ‘Subcity’
“Won’t you please, please give the President my honest regards for disregarding me” – this song rings true in the onslaught of anti-Māori legislation and actions of this government! I sing this song to myself and replace “President” with “Mr Luxon”.
Childish Gambino – ‘This Is America’
I’ve been living in the USA since March and these are interesting times. Experiencing the political chaos of this nation in the lead up to the election, with the threat of Trump returning to the White House, is terrifying to say the least. I’m also witnessing a not-so-dissimilar reality in my home country, where the situation has escalated to the point of the United Nations Human Rights
Office sending a “please-explain” to the New Zealand government … how long till our most privileged take notice?
Kora – ‘Politician’
To carry on from my previous selection of ‘This Is America’ I bring you ‘Politician.’ If you ever doubted Aotearoa’s reputation for supposed racial equality and the Crown’s upholding of tangata whenua rights, you’re not wrong. The UN’s “please-explain” is evidence that we’re far from the perfect country many proclaim Aotearoa to be.
Nina Simone – ‘To Be Young, Gifted And Black’
“‘You are young, gifted and black’ we must begin to tell our young. There’s a world waiting for you. Yours is the quest that’s just begun.” I love this waiata as a wish for ourselves as rangatahi and mokopuna Māori. Strong in our culture, thriving in our language and identity, changing society for the better.
David Grace & Injustice – ‘Rua Kenana’
“He told his people not to go to war, let the white man fight the white man’s war.” One of my favourite protest songs from Aotearoa. Needs no explanation.
Sinead O’Connor – ‘Black Boys On Mopeds’
This song is an astute attack on Margaret Thatcher turning away from the racial violence under her nose in England – overt police brutality towards young black men – and showing more compassion for international crimes. It may’ve been released in 1990 but it’s as relevant today as it ever was. RIP Sinead. I am deeply moved, and grateful, for the risks she took as a songwriter standing up against injustices.
Billie Holiday – ‘Strange Fruit’
“Southern trees bear strange fruit. Blood on the leaves and blood at the root.” I can’t listen to this song without thinking of the horrific images we are faced with from Palestine. The subject matter in this case of the lynching of black people in the American south, echoes the innocence lost en mass.