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Tongan sister-duo release Matariki album to celebrate culture and language
Coco Lance, RNZ Pacific Digital Journalist
Ōtautahi-based music group, Loopy Tunes - known for their vibrant Pasifika music for pre-schoolers - have released a new album celebrating Matariki, New Zealand's Māori New Year.
The album, Mā: Matariki for Tamariki, which is entirely in te reo Māori, features 13 original waiata, including a number of songs each dedicated to a Matariki star.
Sisters Siu Williams-Lemi and Leah Williams-Partington have been creating music for young children for over a decade, beginning as a preschool music class through their church.
The early days of their work in the children's music space rapidly gained traction. Their use of bilingual Māori meant that others wanted them to run classes from community spaces around Christchurch.
More and more people wanted their music.
The pair grew up as what they describe "instrumental and musical."
Leah is a flute player, and Siu plays clarinet and saxophone. Both play piano.
They said their upbringing in the Tongan church sparked their creativity, inspired by the passion and musical talent around them.
"Music has always been a part of our lives. We grew up in the Tongan church, where singing and harmonies were always around us. Music was just a massive part of our childhood," Siu said.
Their work encourages indigenous language learning and cultural pride among tamariki, focused on Māori and Pacific communities and language.
"It's been a bit of a whirlwind last year putting this together…it has been a dream of ours for a long time," Siu said.
"We didn't grow up with Matariki, so creating something for kids to grow up with that is like how people do with Christmas songs - you know, it's Christmas time, let's get the Christmas album out.
"But for this, it's Matariki - let's get the Matariki album out."
The project grew alongside New Zealand On Air's New Music Kids fund, which enabled them to work with producer Thom O'Connor to expand their outreach.
Pasifika beats
While this album solely utilises te reo Māori, Loopy Tunes are no strangers to linguistic diversity.
The pair grew up speaking Tongan, however started losing their fluency as they grew older, and "English became the norm," Siu said.
Reconnecting with te reo Maori too, helped inspire them to create music that helps children engage with language.
"We're still learning ourselves," Leah said. "But we wanted to help tamariki embrace their culture from an early age."
In 2021, they released 10 individual, introductory albums in different Pacific languages, called the "Pasifika Beatz" albums, that including Tonga, Samoa, and Kiribati.
Their music has expanded well beyond New Zealand, with families from as far as France, Canada, and the U.S. sharing videos of their children engaging with the albums, fluently singing along.
"It's very moving to see our music helping Pacific families connect with their heritage overseas," said Siu. "We've had people from all over send us videos, not just Māori and Pacific, but Pākehā kids as well."
Their Loopy Tunes YouTube series has upwards of 12,000 followers, pairing their songs with fun, language-rich music sessions.
"The videos are a mini music session really, focused on one of the songs, and teaching some of the kupu or Pasifika words behind it," Leah added.
While their videos teach Māori and Pacific words, their accessibility has expanded to include New Zealand Sign Language.
With their latest Matariki album now out, Loopy Tunes continue their mission of cultural connection and celebration through music.
As the pair said, "It's been a huge learning journey for us, but seeing tamariki light up when they hear their own languages is the best reward we could ask for. We're very grateful."
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