13th Floor New Song Of The Day: Moana & The Tribe – Toku Reo

Its Friday again and time for more new music…starting the day with this beauty from Moana and The Tribe in collaboration with Taiwanese singer Inka Mbing.

Based on Moana’s 1991 classic, A.E.I.O.U. here’s a bit of the story behind this new version:

Inka Mbing is the stunning guest vocalist on ‘Tōku Reo’, a music collaboration
with the singer from the Atayal tribe, one of 16 indigenous tribe in Taiwan.

Inka defied the taboo on women not singing traditional songs and had been punished – like Māori – for speaking their native language in school. Now she is celebrated for helping keep the language alive.

Moana Maniapoto and producer Paddy Free visited Inka and started a conversation with her about the loss of language and its revitalisation in Aotearoa/New Zealand. They recorded the song Tōku Reo, based on the lyrics by Scotty Morrison, sung in Atayal and Māori, both of which belong to the Austronesian language family.

Tōku Reo  pays tribute to the language of both cultures and is released worldwide on Friday, September 18^th, 2020.