Sub-Tribe Releases Their Highly Anticipated EP ‘Mana’
Sydney-based Kiwi collective Sub-Tribe return with the Mana EP, their first full release in over two years and the beginning of a new chapter with Loop Recordings Aot(ear)oa.
The release arrives during a period of growing momentum for Sub-Tribe on both sides of the Tasman. Following a sold-out seven-show Australian tour through September, the band are fresh off a run of shows alongside SIX60 in Australia, and are already freshly announced as part of the Electric Avenue 2027 and Homegrown 2027 lineups.
The EP includes recent singles Te Waka feat. Casual Healing, For The Land, title track Mana, as well as new single Tū. Te Waka has proved itself to be a track opening new doors and gaining new fans across Aotearoa, with the track topping the Te Reo Māori Radio Airplay Charts for more than 13 weeks.
Across six tracks, the Mana EP pushes Sub-Tribe further into forward-thinking modern bass music while weaving te reo Māori throughout the soundscape. Roots reggae and dub remain at the foundation, but the EP stretches outward into electronic production, Afro-future R&B, house and bass-driven sound system culture.
It’s a progression that reflects Sub-Tribe themselves: an Aotearoa-rooted seven-piece now operating out of Gadigal Country in Sydney, carrying their whakapapa with them while creating music within a contemporary Australian bass and festival scene.
That meeting of worlds runs throughout the Mana EP – between Aotearoa and Australia, tradition and contemporary life, reggae tradition and electronic music. Rather than treating those influences as separate, Sub-Tribe brings them together as part of the same evolving identity.
The wider intent of the EP is perhaps best captured by ‘Future’, which closes the record with a spoken-word reflection on the space Sub-Tribe occupies. It frames the Mana EP as a journey balancing old ways with modern life – music for people navigating multiple cultures and finding their own identity within that space.
“This body of work
Is a journey
Where culture meets creation
Where the past meets the bassline
This is for the ones caught up between cultures
For the ones balancing old ways and modern life
For the ones searching for themselves in the noise
This ones for the bassheads
The festival roamers, The deepthinkers,
The people who still believe”
Since forming in 2017, Sub-Tribe have developed their sound independently through a catalogue of releases and extensive live performances across Aotearoa and Australia. Their festival history includes appearances at Splendour in the Grass, WOMADelaide and Good Love, alongside support slots for L.A.B and The Original Wailers.
