Emeralds & Greenstone

It’s a long way from the North Atlantic to the South Pacific, but Christchurch-based quartet Emeralds & Greenstone are attempting to bridge that distance with their unusual cross-cultural mix of Maori-influenced melodies and Celtic folk. Formed in 2006, the group features some of New Zealand’s most interesting folkies, along with singer Ariana Tikao, who comes from a mixed Maori-English-Scottish heritage. She’s joined by singer-songwriter Laura Tomlin on keyboards, Irish whistle and wooden flute, Jon Hooker on guitars and bodhrán-playing percussionist Argène Montgomery-Honger.

With lyrics in English, Gaelic and Te Reo Maori, in less skilful hands this interweaving of traditions could have proved a disaster, but the concept works quite well in this context. At its best on the shared trad Celtic/Maori melodies ‘E Hine-Seinn O!’ and ‘Weave & Mend-Hi’illean, there’s also a dandy instrumental Across The Seas, which blends familiar Celtic sounds with the ambient whirling hum of traditional porotiti (a jade greenstone that rotates and vibrates around two strings). Tikao’s original songs, ‘Stitched to You’ and ‘Niwareka, also fare well. Both were featured in quite different versions on her own excellent 2008 release Tuia (reviewed in Songlines #55). But if this album has a weakness, it’s Tomlin’s two contemporary tunes, which while pleasant, are unremarkable in themselves and tend to break the otherwise ethereal, ancient-sounding spell. While this debut album has been available for some time in Aotearoa, it’s only now finding its way to attentive ears across the waters. It could well prove interesting to watch this group’s evolution in coming years.