Album Review: Fly

Tui Mamaki’s album Fly is an ancestral crie du coeur inspired by her time spent living in Bulgaria. Tui was born in France and raised in Aotearoa/New Zealand and there is a certain global transcendence to her music. It evokes many cultures with its surprising key shifts, dominated always by Tui’s mesmerising vocal intonation.

Tui’s rich vocal timbre is evident from the opening track Follow, a song that would make the perfect soundtrack to a slightly unsettling but nevertheless poignant fairy-tale. Delicate percussion contributions from Tunji Beier add a lovely aspect to the entire album, helping to evoke the atmosphere of an intimate candlelit intimate setting after the first heavy fall of snow for the winter. There is a hush and a thrall to the sonic landscape Tui has created here.

Lift Off takes us to a more verdant landscape with intermittent birdsong accompaniment and showcases Tui creating a lovely effect harmonising with herself in lilting lament. It could be easy to think that this is ‘simple’ music and yet there is great craft in this kind of simplicity and nowhere at all to hide. Its naked power makes it all the more memorable and haunting.

Same Sun is a standout track. Its beautiful lyrics take the listener on a journey that traverses epic myths and the domestic details that unite us all. 

Deeply evocative and contemplative, with ancestral voices calling from just beyond the veil, this is a gorgeous album when approached in the right mood and in the right place and time.