Sub-Tribe & Casual Healing Release Powerful Single + Video ‘Te Waka’
Progressive dub collective Sub-Tribe return with Te Waka, the first single from their forthcoming Mana EP and their first release with Loop Recordings Aot(ear)oa.
Featuring Casual Healing, the acclaimed solo project of Māori composer and multi-instrumentalist Nikau Te Huki, Te Waka blends roots reggae, dub, and contemporary Māori influences into a song centred around identity, connection, and collective journey.
Te Waka explores the idea that we are all passengers on the same waka, navigating life together while carrying the responsibility to honour the past and help create a better future for generations to come.
The release is accompanied by a stunning music video, premiering at 8pm Friday June 19. The video was filmed on location in Northland, Aotearoa and Tahiti, expanding the song’s themes through imagery grounded in whenua, movement, and cultural connection.
A visual tribute to the ancestral waka journeys that carried our tūpuna across Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa to Aotearoa. The video explores themes of migration, identity, whakapapa and cultural resilience.
The creation of the video was heavily influenced by real-life cultural events and interactions with members of the voyaging community. Rather than recreating history through actors or staged scenes, the project sought to document authentic moments of cultural exchange, ceremony, performance, and connection.
One of the most significant aspects of the project was the opportunity to film alongside the crew and participants connected to Hikianalia, a modern Polynesian voyaging canoe that continues the legacy of traditional non-instrument navigation across the Pacific.
Through imagery of waka, ocean landscapes, and cultural gatherings, the video reflects on the courage, skill, and vision of our ancestors while drawing connections to contemporary Māori and Pacific communities living throughout the world today.
“On a personal level, it represents a reconnection to ancestry, language, and identity. As Māori artists living and creating in Australia, the song is also a reminder that no matter where we are in the world, we remain connected to our roots and carry the legacy of our ancestors with us,” says Sub-Tribe.
Since forming in 2017, Sub-Tribe have built a loyal following across Australia and Aotearoa through a catalogue of independent releases and festival appearances, combining reggae, dub, bass music, and Māori storytelling into a sound uniquely their own.
Te Waka marks the beginning of the group’s next chapter and sets the tone for the forthcoming Mana EP.
