Jesse Mulligan asked seven artists to dedicate a song to the nation and they joined the show to tell us about their chosen track.
First up, Shihad lead singer John Toogood chose a song from Voom, which he says is like a warm hug.
"It’s by a band that Shihad used to tour with years ago, I know they’re not exactly from the same scene as us but we’ve always loved Voom, liked the wrote music, the way they performed live.
"[They are] a really underrated New Zealand band as far as I’m concerned and it’s a song that I’ve played on occasion myself.
"It pretty much just says I know you’re feeling a bit bad at the moment, but everything will be all right in the end."
Isn’t That Good - Voom
Toogood says he’s also stoked with their 10th studio album ‘Old Gods’ going straight to no.1 in New Zealand.
"It’s a pretty brutally honest piece of work, it says everything it needs to say, there’s no compromises there, so the fact it has managed to connect with people is really good."
Musician Rob Ruha has also recently released his highly-anticipated third album ‘Preservation of Scenery’ and spoke to Kim Hill about it on Saturday Morning.
He told Jesse Mulligan he’d like to dedicate his waiata Taera to the country, because it celebrates and champions diversity.
"It don’t matter your background, your ethnic cultural background, spiritual background – just you do you and rock it out.
"In that diversity, that’s where we find unity and in championing each other’s diversity, that’s where unity exists."
Taera – Rob Ruha
Estère, who released her album Archetypes earlier this year, chose a 20-year-old song by Che Fu.
"I chose it because for me it’s a song of hope, it’s a song of optimism and when I listen to it, I feel like he’s talking or speaking directly to me. I love this song and I wanted to share it with the rest of Aotearoa."
Hold Tight – Che Fu
Nadia Reid chose a song that features an act from her record label Slow Time Records, which she runs.
"I wanted to pick something local and these guys actually are pretty much my neighbours.
"They’ve been around since 2002 and this song came out last week and to me, it just speaks of community and togetherness, it’s got a real feel good factor which I think is good at the moment, gives me goosebumps."
We’re All Looking Up by The Broken Heartbreakers
Troy Kingi’s tour for his album ‘Black Sea Golden Ladder’ has had to be rescheduled because of the Covid-19 outbreak.
"We got halfway through the tour but it’s just a wait and see type of thing at the moment."
He wants to dedicate Home, Land and Sea by Trinity Roots for Aotearoa.
"I feel like it’s the number one quintessential song of this country and ... it sums up the country for me, that’s what it’s all about, the land, and just feeling that connection to the land."
Home, Land and Sea by Trinity Roots
Anna Coddington says she’s getting through the ongoing lockdown one day at a time.
She has chosen to play a song by Lips, who helped produce her album ‘Beams’ released last year.
"At first, I felt pressure to choose something uplifting but this song, I love it, because I feel like it holds space for the feeling that I’m currently experiencing of acceptance or resignation and kind of feeling like there’s something a bit strange or not quite right but there’s only so much you can do about it.
"There’s a lot of specific observations and yet it manages to be vague enough to allow room for interpretation and putting your own feelings in."
Not Today - Lips
Anthonie Tonnon had live shows planned for end of the year. But with a couple of members locked down in Auckland, it’s challenging to see how that’ll play out, he says.
Tonnon says it was tough to pick just one song but in the end decided on one by Haunted Love.
"I heard it at a time in my life when there was a lot of uncertainty and this was just an amazing transformative valve for that and it was also exciting, because it one of the first times in my life that friends showed me a song that they’d made and I felt like they’d written the best song in the world."
