Dillastrate Unveil Sensual Soul Anthem in Te Reo Māori for Mahuru Māori
Aotearoa duo Dillastrate are diving deep into aroha with their new bilingual single So In Love – a neo-soul track released to celebrate Mahuru Māori. The reo Māori waiata is out this week, with a reo Pākehā version arriving on September 19.
Crafted by bandmates Henare (H) Kaa (Ngāti Porou) and Tim Driver, So In Love nods to Motown’s golden era but moves with the same polish as the likes of Silk Sonic – all tied up in a distinctly Aotearoa shed party groove.
While both versions of So In Love are a personal story about aroha, Kaa says it’s the reo Māori version that really turns up the heat – rich in metaphor, layered emotion and deeply intimate.
“We worked with matanga reo Hemi Hoskins to reimagine the essence of the waiata through te ao Māori. The reo Māori version is more suggestive and sensual, you can feel the tension and depth. That is the beauty of our language – it goes deep,” says Kaa.
Lines like “Ō tāua ringa ki te hoe, taihoa ka rongo i te pai” (Our hands on the paddle, soon we will feel the joy) use the metaphor of paddling a waka to describe shared desire, moving together towards pleasure and unity, with vulnerability.
“This track is music for the night, for the shed parties, and maybe for the ride home. For when you’re really in your feelings – or someone else’s,” says Kaa. “The shed party is such a big part of Aotearoa music culture. Some of the best music is played in the shed and we wanted to make a track in our language that belongs there.”
So In Love comes off the back of their top 10 shortlisting for the APRA Tohu Maioha. It is also the first taste of Dillastrate’s upcoming EP, due later this year. The reo Māori version is streaming now on all platforms, with the reo Pākehā song dropping later in the month.
