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Sara-Jane Auva'a: Sara Jane

Recent musical developments have brought to popular attention music that is strongly contemporary, yet unashamedly acknowledges the cultural roots of the artist. 'Sara Jane' is just such an album, with a collection of songs best described as Samoan hip hop/pop. The album, recorded in Auckland and Apia, kicks off with a track that is a medley of traditional Samoan songs given a thoroughly contemporary treatment. Some songs sung are in Samoan, fortunately with the English translation printed for the benefit of Palagi like me. Others tracks are performed in English, and should feel perfectly at home on mainstream radio. Sara Jane strikes me as a stand proud sort of performer. Proud of her heritage and faith, with a flavour that is very Samoan, yet with an appeal that shouldn't limit her to one cultural market. The real star of the album is her vocals, ably supported by the sort of harmonies that make Samoan choirs such an awesome experience. A quirky addition is the DJ-talking-to-callers interlude that shamelessly promotes the artist, but with enough tongue-in-cheek to keep it from being crass. I'm sure we'll be hearing more from Sara Jane. Distributed by King Music www.kingmusic.co.nz

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