Loopy Tunes releases new waiata for bilingual Matariki album

The musical sister duo from Loopy Tunes Preschool Music is celebrating the release of two new songs, “I Love Huawhenua (Tupuānuku)” and “Huarākau Is Fruit (Tupuārangi)”, as part of their upcoming Matariki album, Mā: Matariki for Tamariki.

Māori and Tongan sisters Siu Williams-Lemi and Leah Williams-Partington are passionate about helping children hear, speak, and sing in their indigenous reo, particularly in Māori and Pacific languages.

Supported by NZ on Air (NZOA), these latest waiata follow the recent releases “Hiwa-i-te-rangi” and “Te Waka o Rangi (Pōhutukawa)” and are part of a 13-track Matariki album.

Williams-Lemi says Friday has been an exciting yet “normal busy” day.

“It's always exciting every time it comes out. I force my kids to listen to each of our songs when they first come out. Well…they're teenagers, so they're not always that excited,” she admits.

“I'm excited, my husband's excited, and my sister's excited.”

Loopy Tunes offers weekly musical education classes at various locations around Ōtautahi|Christchurch and performs at preschools, as well as public and private events.

The sisters are known for creating fun and engaging bilingual music for children, featuring songs in reorua/bilingual Māori, Pasifika languages, and New Zealand Sign Language. Their music is characterised by a beautifully distinctive and warm harmonious style.

Learn eight huarākau (fruits) in Māori and NZSL with Siu and Leah here.

As Williams-Lemi says, there are no harsher critics than teenagers, so they usually have close friends and students listen to the songs before their release.

Leading up to Friday’s release, the sisters previewed their recent Matariki songs to one of their classes.

“A couple of songs we've been doing in our class and they've been well received. So we figured they must be all right.”

Huarākau album cover. Photo/Supplied

“I Love Huawhenua (Tupuānuku)”

This waiata celebrates Tupuānuku, the star in the Matariki cluster associated with kai harvested from the soil.

The sisters say that tamariki will learn the names of different huawhenua (vegetables) in Māori and English.

“A line in the song that we love is, ‘when Tupu-ā-nuku shines bright in the sky, prepare to see your garden fill with kai!’

“It has a fun call and response at the end, ‘I love huawhenua...they are namunamuā (flavourful)'.

“Huarākau Is Fruit (Tupuārangi)”

In this song, tamariki will learn the names of fruits in Māori and English, as Tupu-ā-rangi represents kai that comes from above.

The star is associated with food originating from the sky, such as birds and elevated fruit and berries from trees.

Williams-Lemi says they aim to create a Matariki album for some time, but financial challenges are a constant barrier.

For the Ōtautahi-based duo, the focus is giving children a strong foundation in understanding how different languages flow.

They created this album is made for "our little ones to help them understand Matariki and grow up singing and dancing to the waiata”.

Once they received the NZOA funding, they realise there is no time like the present to make their dream a reality.

“Our producer, Thom (O’Connor) jumped on board and produced all of the songs, which we love. And one of our kaiako (teacher), Urupikia, she's the kaiwhakamāori (Māori translator), we sat with her,” Williams-Lemi says.

“It's a very simple bilingual song, but it's always good to make sure that it's tika and everything we've done is right. It's been a really cool process.”

Cultural insights

While there are varying opinions on the number of stars in the Matariki cluster, Māori cultural astronomer Professor Rangiānehu Mātāmua ONZM says there are nine:

• Matariki is associates with health and wellbeing

• Pōhutukawa is connected to our loved ones who have passed away.

• Tupuānuku signifies the coming of winter and is linked to food grown in the ground.

• Tupuārangi is connected to food from above, such as berries and birds.

• The twin stars, Waitī and Waitā, represent fresh and saltwater.

• Waipuna-ā-rangi is linked to rain.

• Ururangi represents the winds.

• Hiwa-i-te-rangi is known as the wishing star, associated with our hopes and dreams.

Looking ahead

Williams-Lemi believes in enriching and empowering children with continued access to their languages.

She says it wasn’t normal for them to hear the Māori language growing up, but now they see children fully embracing the language.

“We have a continued goal, where we just want to normalise tamariki hearing the different languages. Like, just any tamariki. In our classes, we'll throw in a Tongan bilingual song, and we have kids of different cultures just singing it like it's normal.

“Or right now in our class, we're doing sea animals and when a child uses ‘pāpaka’ instead of ‘crab’, it's just really exciting for us to just hear kids feel like it's normal. It's something we didn't grow up with.”

Loopy Tunes sisters Leah Williams-Partington (left) and Siu Williams-Lemi. Photo/Supplied

The sisters are preparing for their annual tour in April, which will take them around North Canterbury before they travel cross-country to Northland to reconnect with their whakapapa Māori.

“We've actually never been to our marae, so we thought this would be a nice wee haerenga (trip) and head up. We're trying to get our siblings and parents to come along too, and Nana.”

All of Loopy Tunes Preschool Music is available on streaming platforms, their YouTube channel, and social media pages. Mā: Matariki for Tamariki releases on 9 April, 2025.