Photo credit: Holly Burgess
Image/Supplied
Ahead of her new album release on Matariki (Friday June 28), Anna Coddington drops another taste of the album and its funk-filled sound.
A collaboration with Troy Kingi, ‘Honey Back’ shows a soulful side of the album, with Coddington and Kingi playing both sides of a (fictional) relationship gone
wrong. It arrives with a video again created by band member Fen Ikner, capturing heartfelt performances from both
vocalists.
‘Honey Back’ is just one of the highlights from an album full of them. TE WHAKAMIHA, a bilingual body of work in te reo Māori and English, features the previously released single ‘Katuarehe’, and is released this Friday, June 28, on Matariki.
The album moves effortlessly from te reo Māori to English, bringing a sound that Coddington has herself described loosely as “Māori funk”. Across eight tracks, the album encompasses Prince-inspired funk,
neo-soul, R and disco vibes, presenting te reo Māori in a unique style and sound. Playful throughout with memorable hooks and
singalong choruses in both te reo and English, TE WHAKAMIHA is a release with its own vibe and style, yet distinctly belongs to Coddington.
The album’s title TE WHAKAMIHA comes from a rough translation of the name of Coddington’s longtime band - The Appreciations. The name also expresses gratitude to Coddington’s dual journeys in music and in te reo Māori. After spending years studying te reo Māori, 2021 saw Coddington release MANA-WĀ-HINE, an award-winning release featuring tracks from the album BEAMS translated into te reo Māori. TE WHAKAMIHA is Coddington’s first entirely new project created in te reo Māori, with sprinklings of English throughout.
TE WHAKAMIHA tracklisting:
1. Katuarehe
2. Kahurangi
3. Honey Back featuring Troy Kingi
4. GAINZ
5. Call Your Mother
6. Tomina
7. Te Taumata Ike
8. Mōhou Rā