Mara TK ‘Toroa/The Albatross’
Written by Admin on March 15, 2021
This week’s Local Eyes is from golden voiced, Maori-Scottish world-wandering citizen of Aotearoa, Mara TK, with ‘Toroa/The Albatross’.
Mara has just announced his debut solo album ‘Bad Meditation’, which will be released on 7th May on Extra Soul Perception. Stepping out on his own, Mara TK is the former frontman of the acclaimed Kiwi future soul trio Electric Wire Hustle.
Written and produced by Mara himself, ‘Bad Meditation’ is his 13 track opus, a deeply personal account of heritage, love, loss and healing. The ‘Toroa/The Albatross’ song in Mara’s words : Toroa/The Albatros :This song was written in remembrance of the passive resistance movement of Parihaka – an early refugee camp established by Māori during the Crown invasion of Taranaki in the 1800s. Their nonviolent ideology became a formative part of the Māori identity and informed our approach to settling disputes with governments here in Aotearoa (New Zealand). Parihaka used the feathers of the albatross as their emblem after the great bird visited them, and so this song asks the albatross to return to land and bring peace to us once again. An alumnus of Red Music Academy in Toronto, Mara TK’s work beyond Electric Wire Hustle has seen him collaborate with critically lauded names including Om’Mas Keith of Sa-Ra Creative Partners, Detroit producer and J Dilla collaborator Waajeed, and Steve Spacek. Extra Soul Perception is a collaboration and community music platform that started life between the UK, Kenya and Uganda but is now continuing to grow and connect independent musicians worldwide. Now with Mara TK added to the roster, Extra Soul Perception has released music by Lex Amor, K15, Maxwell Owin, Lynda Dawn, Hibotep, Karun, Labdi, Faizal Mostrixx and more.
“This song was written in remembrance of the passive resistance movement of Parihaka – an early refugee camp established by Māori during the Crown invasion of Taranaki in the 1800s. Their nonviolent ideology became a formative part of the Māori identity and informed our approach to settling disputes with governments here in Aotearoa (New Zealand).”
“Parihaka used the feathers of the albatross as their emblem after the great bird visited them, and so this song asks the albatross to return to land and bring peace to us once again”.
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