"Matemateāone" (English: "Deep Affection") is a song by New Zealand musician

Stan Walker Stan Walker (born 23 October 1990) is an Australian New Zealand singer, actor, and television personality. In 2009, Walker was the winner of the seventh season of ''Australian Idol''. He subsequently signed a recording contract with Sony Mus ...

. A bilingual ballad sung primarily in

Māori language Māori (; endonym: 'the Māori language', commonly shortened to ) is an Eastern Polynesian languages, Eastern Polynesian language and the language of the Māori people, the indigenous population of mainland New Zealand. The southernmost membe ...

, the song was released as a single a week before Walker's first album sung in Māori, ''

Te Arohanui ''Te Arohanui'' is the sixth studio album by New Zealand recording artist Stan Walker Stan Walker (born 23 October 1990) is an Australian New Zealand singer, actor, and television personality. In 2009, Walker was the winner of the seven ...

''. A love ballad, the song's music video celebrates his marriage to his partner Lou Tyson. The song debuted at number 14 on the New Zealand Artist Singles chart and number 8 on the Hot Singles chart. By the end of 2021, it was the 5th most successful Te Reo Māori song of the year in New Zealand.

Background and composition

In 2014, Walker collaborated with the musicians

Ria Hall Ria Hall (born 1982 or 1983) is a Māori recording artist, singer-songwriter, television presenter, and political candidate. She has released two solo albums, '' Rules of Engagement'' (2017), which topped the Official New Zealand Music Chart shor ...

Troy Kingi Troy Kingi (born 1984) is a New Zealand musician and actor from Northland, first receiving media attention when he appeared in the 2013 film '' Mt. Zion''. Kingi is a multi-instrumentalist, is known for his 10/10/10 project: the plan to release ...

and

Maisey Rika Maisey Rika is a New Zealand singer, songwriter and composer, performing in both English and Māori language, Māori. Her five original albums have each reached the Top 40 in the Official New Zealand Music Chart. She was named an Arts Foundation ...

on the single "

Aotearoa ''Aotearoa'' () is the Māori name for New Zealand. The name was originally used by Māori in reference only to the North Island, with the whole country being referred to as ''Aotearoa me Te Waipounamu'' – where ''Te Ika-a-Māui'' means N ...

", a Māori language song released to mark

te Wiki o te Reo Māori () is a government-sponsored initiative intended to encourage New Zealanders to promote the use of the Māori language which is an official language of the country. Māori Language Week is part of a broader movement to revive the Māori langu ...

, as a challenge to release the second song in history (after "

Poi E "Poi E" is a song by New Zealand group Pātea Māori Club off the album of the same name. Released in 1983, the song was sung entirely in the Māori language and featured a blend of Māori cultural practices in the song and accompanying music ...

" (1984) by the

Pātea Māori Club Pātea Māori Club is a New Zealand cultural group and performance act formed in the South Taranaki District, South Taranaki town of Patea, Pātea in 1967 as the Pātea Methodist Māori Club. In 1983, the group began to release Māori language, ...

) to top the New Zealand charts. Walker started recording music in Te Reo again in 2018, including "Whakamoemiti" from the

extended play An extended play (EP) is a Sound recording and reproduction, musical recording that contains more tracks than a Single (music), single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 1 ...

'' Stan'', "Moemoeā", Walker's cover of

Don't Dream It's Over "Don't Dream It's Over" is a song by rock band Crowded House, recorded for their 1986 self-titled debut studio album. The song was composed and written by New Zealand frontman Neil Finn and released in October 1986 as the fourth single from ...

with Seth Haapu in 2019, and "Tēnā Rā Koe", a Te Reo version of Walker's single "Thank You" (2018) recorded for the ''

Waiata / Anthems ''Waiata / Anthems'' is compilation album by New Zealand artists, whereby they re-record previous songs from English to Māori language. It was released in New Zealand 6 September 2019 and it debuted at number 1 on the Official New Zealand Music ...

'' compilation album in 2019. In 2020, Walker released the single " Bigger", simultaneously releasing a Te Reo Māori version of the song with his niece Ibanez Maeva. On 1 September 2021, Walker announced the release of ''

'', an upcoming studio album entirely sung in Te Reo. The announcement was paired with the release of "Tau Te Mārire", a re-recorded version of his single "

Take It Easy "Take It Easy" is the debut single by the American rock band Eagles, written by Jackson Browne and Eagles band member Glenn Frey, who also provides lead vocals. It was released on May 1, 1972, and peaked at No. 12 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 ...

" (2012).

Release

The song was released on 10 September 2021, one week after the release of "Tau Te Mārire". On the same day, Walker released the music video for the track, featuring footage from his wedding to Lou Tyson. The song was later featured on Walker's 2022 album '' All In''. The song was later used as the ending theme song for the 2022

Tearepa Kahi Tearepa Kahi (born 16 March 1978), also known as Te Arepa Kahi, is a New Zealand film director and former actor of Ngāti Paoa and Waikato Tainui descent. Kahi is best known for the 2013 drama '' Mt. Zion'' starring Stan Walker, and the Pātea M ...

film '' Muru''.

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from

Tidal Tidal is the adjectival form of tide. Tidal may also refer to: * ''Tidal'' (album), a 1996 album by Fiona Apple * Tidal (king), a king involved in the Battle of the Vale of Siddim * TidalCycles, a live coding environment for music * Tidal (servic ...

. *Devin Abrams – producer, composer, lyricist *Mikey Dam – composer, lyricist *Simon Gooding – engineer, mixing engineer *Stuart Hawkes – mastering engineer *Isiah Ngawaka – composer, lyricist *Matthew Sadgrove – producer, composer, lyricist *Ruth Smith – composer, lyricist *Stan Walker – composer, lyricist, vocalist

Charts

Year-end charts

References

{{Authority control 2021 singles 2021 songs Film theme songs Macaronic songs Songs in Māori New Zealand songs Pop ballads Stan Walker songs Songs written by Stan Walker