For Aotearoa-based duo Aro, music has always been a reflection of place—land, language, and lineage. But with their latest album, Tāwauwau, Charles and Emily Looker take a different path. Written while living full-time on the road with their tamariki, the project moves beyond the physical landscapes that shaped their earlier work and into something more intangible: a space of memory, imagination, and rediscovery.
Rather than beginning with a defined concept rooted in the natural world, Tāwauwau emerged organically, shaped by a major life shift. Leaving behind their home in Auckland, the duo stepped into a slower, more exploratory rhythm of life—one guided by travel, conversation, and connection as a whānau.
“At the beginning, we didn’t really know what we were writing about,” they explain. “We were simply letting the conversations, landscapes, and experiences we were having shape the music.”
Over time, a theme revealed itself: a return to the sense of wonder often associated with childhood. Tāwauwau became a way to reconnect with that feeling—while carrying the weight and responsibility of adulthood.
A Sound Shaped by Whānau and Movement
The album is deeply tied to the experience of living on the road. Travelling across Aotearoa in a caravan with their children, Aro found themselves immersed in both the beauty and complexity of a new way of life.
The result is a body of work that moves fluidly between emotional states—joy, tension, reflection, and openness—mirroring the realities of close family life and constant motion.
“Some songs carry a sense of openness and joy, while others explore tension or uncertainty,” they share. “Rather than choosing a genre first, we allowed each song to find the sound that best expressed the feeling behind it.”
That freedom is reflected sonically, as the album blends jazz, folk, soul, and haka-inspired rhythms—anchored not in genre, but in story.
Language, Identity, and Dual Perspectives
Central to Aro’s artistry is their seamless weaving of te reo Māori and English. For the duo, this bilingual approach is not a stylistic choice—it is a lived reality.
“Those are the two languages that shape our lives,” they explain. “Writing bilingually allows us to express ideas in ways that one language alone sometimes can’t.”
The interplay between languages reflects a deeper relationship—one grounded in Te Tiriti, where two perspectives come together to create something richer. Through this, their music becomes a space where identity, worldview, and storytelling intersect.
Finding the Magical in the Everyday
While Tāwauwau explores a fantastical, almost otherworldly realm, its inspiration is rooted in real moments experienced on the road.
From the towering waterfalls of Haast Pass to the lush, moss-covered landscapes of Te Waipounamu, Aro found themselves surrounded by environments that felt both familiar and surreal.
“It felt like we had stepped into a kind of enchanted world,” they recall.
These moments shaped the album’s core idea: that the magical and the everyday are not separate—they coexist, waiting to be noticed.
Music as a Reflection of Values
At the heart of Aro’s work are the guiding principles of kaitiakitanga and manaakitanga—care for people, place, and the natural world.
A whakataukī they carry into their creative process is:
“Ehara taku toa i te toa takitahi, engari he toa takitini.” (My strength is not that of an individual, but that of the collective.)
This philosophy grounds their work not in individual expression but in something shared—shaped by whānau, community, and generations of knowledge.
A Living, Breathing Performance Experience
Following the album’s release, Aro will take Tāwauwau across Aotearoa with their “Secret Sun” tour—performing not only in traditional venues, but within the landscapes that inspired the music itself.
Timed with sunset, these performances are designed to dissolve the boundary between audience, environment, and sound.
“It’s about creating a space where the music sits alongside the landscape rather than separate from it.”
With Tāwauwau, Aro invites listeners into something deeply personal yet universally felt—a return to wonder, a reflection on identity, and a reminder of the worlds that exist both around us and within us. For those discovering their music for the first time, the message is simple: there is value in your perspective, your story, and the way you see the world.
Stream the album here.
