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Ruia: Tekau Ma Rua: Rua Tekau Ma Wha

Following up on his 2004 album release ‘Hawaiki’, Ruia has released another excellent work. He sings solely in Te Reo, encompassing various genres including jazz, blues and reggae, blended with traditional, soulful vocals. The fact that I speak little Te Reo did not detract from my listening pleasure, as the music speaks for itself. Ruia is a multi-instrumentalist playing keyboards, sax and acoustic guitar while enlisting various other quality musicians including Chris Macro, who also produced the album. There’s an even mix of melodic chill out and upbeat, and from the titles he seems to explore religion, romance and some politics, with a sprinkling of haka chanting. Ruia even manages to make a song named Cock-a-doodle-doo sound cool! Although he wrote all the album every track has a varied composition and unique sound. With funding from Te Mangai Paho, Ruia is obviously trying to promote Te Reo within the contemporary NZ music scene and this quality album should easily escape from a niche market to inspire more to do the same. The cover art is wicked, the album released by Tangata Records and distributed by Maorimusic.com.

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