KATIE BROWN - 26 MAY 2023

Out today is gorgeous new single “Warenoa” by Tāmaki Makaurau artist Emily Rice, and it’s accompanied by a joy-filled music video we’re delighted to premiere! Contributing to the Waiata Anthems movement, the single is a te reo Māori version of “Careless” from Emily’s 2021 EP AUAHA, with lyric translation by Pere Wihongi. It was produced, recorded and mixed by M J Collier/Leone at Aro Music Studio and Little Lion Studio, and mastered by Vivek Gabriel.

The project is proudly supported by APRA Te Tautāwhinga and Creative New Zealand.

Speaking of the single, Emily says:

“This song is inspired by the rhythm I found during the Aotearoa lockdown in April 2020, a time I dedicated to writing and creating music every single day. It’s become even more relevant for me today, in 2023, as I recently gave up my day job to focus fully on music, taking away all other distractions from other mahi to pour my heart and soul into the thing that I find most exciting - music!”

In “Warenoa”/“Careless”, Emily sings about staying true to who you are and keeping to the course you know at heart to be right, rather than carelessly veering off track. To me, what strikes me about this, and it’s clear in the “Warenoa” music video and Emily’s work and visual approach in general, is the relationship to colour. In a literal sense, there’s the vibrant use of colour in the accompanying visuals that is vivid and evocative, but never garish - a softness accompanies the boldness to create a presence that feels at once both joyful and softly harmonious. This translates through into the music itself, where an upbeat, jazz-infused RnB-style pop creates the perfect platform for Emily’s shimmering vocals and multi-layered harmonies to shine. Figuratively, within Emily’s work and her insightful and meaningful lyrics, there’s a Lauper-style sense of choosing to let her true colours show (where would we be without Cyndi!) - and of not being afraid to embody and inhabit the colours of her own being. This is what comes through in “Careless”, and even more so in its te reo reimagining as “Warenoa”: it’s a song about essentially choosing yourself, and putting what matters most to you first.

The track is intentional and authentic, and the Tom Grut-filmed video is the perfect accompaniment to showcase this dancing duality of colour and meaning threaded through Emily’s outstanding work. (Plus: watch out for the highlight of Emily’s sassy saxophone solo!)

Watch the video below, and keep an eye out for Emily’s other work as one half of bi-lingual duo Aro, a three-time Silver Scroll finalist as well as a finalist for Best Māori Group at the 2022 Waiata Māori Music Awards.

Find Emily Rice on Website | Instagram | Facebook | Bandcamp | Spotify