This week Tony is joined by Leilani Momoisea and RNZ Pacific journalist Koroi Hawkins, to bring you six brand new tunes.
Anderson Paak – Jewelz
Tony: "Anderson has a high voice, and here it's pitched up to be even more chipmunk-y, which is an interesting decision. Like a lot of things on this track, I'm not sure why he's done it, other than just to be silly."
Star Feminine Band – La Musique
Tony: "This is seven girls/ women aged between ten and seventeen in a remote town in Benin in West Africa. In 2016 they responded to an offer of music training session - none of them had touched instruments prior to that. And basically four years later they're so good they got a record deal."
Gino October – Better For Ya
Leilani: "Gino came to NZ from Cape Town when he was twelve years old, and this song talks about that journey. It's a classic immigrant story talking about coming to a new country and figuring how you fit in, and also talking about how, as a kid, you don't realise your parents are doing it so you can have a better life."
Warrior Rekordz - Tiqolo Lei
Koroi: "The concept is an old traditional Roviana lullaby sung over a modern beat. It's a Melanesian lullaby, so it's not feelgood, 'go to sleep baby', it's more like a scare-you-to-sleep lullaby.
I remember my mum singing it to me. It's about a creature that's getting closer and closer, so they'll sing the lullaby verse and then say 'Where is it?' and respond 'Oh it's down the other end of the village', and it gets closer to you during the song.
I was asleep before it got to the house every time."
Yasamin – Maybe It’s America
Leilani [on the video which sees Yasamin eat an entire cake]: "I thought it was a metaphor on overconsumption... and then you just throw up".
Koroi: "That is America though isn't it - it's the land of excess, everything is as big as can possibly be."
Blanco – Pull Up
Leilani: "Talking about the need for music that makes me feel good... this does it for me every time. It just makes me want to have a drink in the sun or something. I listen to it and I'm like 'Yup, let's go.'
It's one of those songs where people are just standing around the dancefloor, and then maybe five or six people will start dancing. It's a party-starter, it's like 'Let's sip a little faster as we listen to this'.
