Te Tiriti-based Duo, Aro, Release New Album, Tāwauwau | Stepping Into The Unknown With Their Uncharted Concept Album
by Cheree Ridder · SCOOPA Journey into Tāwauwau
Some worlds cannot be charted - they must be felt. Before completing their ambitious four-album exploration of Aotearoa’s natural heritage, award winning Te Tiriti-based duo Aro, step boldly aside to enter Tāwauwau: an uncharted, fantastical realm where imagination and reality intertwine.
Aro’s latest body of work, Album Tāwauwau, is released into the world on March 20th, 2026. The album release is followed by their nationwide Secret Sun Tour, running from late March through til early May.
Written while living full-time on the road with their tamariki, Tāwauwau is a musical exploration of spaces that feel both beyond and within reach. Here, songs shimmer with wonder, pulse with rhythm, and carry the intimacy of family, journey, and whenua. Where Aro’s previous albums traced the known markers of land, sky, forest, and water, this collection ventures into new, imaginative territory - a world felt in the blood, where goosebumps and awe are never far away.
From the glimmering hope of first single Puna Ora to the restless tension of Mundane, Tāwauwau moves fluidly between the magical and the real. It’s a body of work that invites listeners to rediscover beauty, faith, and wonder within the ordinary - to glimpse the light that flickers through life’s complexity.
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Tāwauwau is not a detour, but a necessary leap - the space between what has been and what is yet to come. It is a moment to breathe, to dream, and to present music that is fantastical yet grounded, intimate yet expansive. Every song invites listeners to wander, to marvel, and to dwell in the wonder of an unknown world waiting to be felt.
At the Heart of it All
For Aro, Charles (Ngāpuhi, Te Rarawa, Ngāti Te Ata Waiohua, Ngāti Mutunga) and Emily Looker, Tāwauwau is deeply personal. These songs carry the hum of family life, especially from during 2025 while living full time on the road in their caravan, the laughter and quiet of raising children amidst mountains, coastlines, and open skies. It is a story of faith, whānau, and finding home - wherever the journey leads.
Across the Motu
Following its release, Aro will share Tāwauwau with audiences across the motu on a nationwide tour called ‘The Secret Sun Tour’ running from late March through early May 2026, performing in beautiful places at sunset - some favorites from their travels in 2025, and some where people have asked them to come. Travelling with their tamariki in their Rugged Kiwi caravan, they begin at Cuba Dupa with a full band show, as well as a whānau show, before making their way down Te Waipounamu, before heading back North. Locations will be revealed (via their Instagram and Facebook pages), as the tour unfolds, giving rise to the name ‘The Secret Sun’. The album release tour will weave through communities both large and small - inviting audiences to step into Tāwauwau through immersive storytelling, bilingual lyricism, and soulful connection.
Their live performances - rich in warmth, harmony, and heart - have captivated audiences nationwide, from major festivals to intimate community venues, and are known for their uniquely immersive live performances that celebrate connection, language, and place.
About Aro
Aro are Te Tiriti-based duo Charles (Ngāpuhi, Te Rarawa, Ngāti Te Ata Waiohua, Ngāti Mutunga) and Emily Looker - songwriters, storytellers, and whānau-centred creatives whose artistry weaves together reo Māori and English with elements of jazz, folk, soul, and haka-infused rhythm.
Since forming in 2017, Aro have released multiple acclaimed projects exploring Aotearoa’s natural heritage, including Manu and He Rākau, He Ngārara, earning nominations at the Aotearoa Music Awards, being finalists for the APRA Maioha Award for excellence in songwriting in te reo Māori, and most recently winning the Best Pop Album at the 2024 Waiata Māori Music Awards. Also in 2024 they received NZ on Air’s Best Music Video award for Totarā, and were longlist finalists for the 2024 APRA Silver Scroll Award.
Their work is anchored in the values of kaitiakitanga and manaakitanga - caring for ourselves, each other, and the natural world - and continues to reflect their journey as artists, parents, and storytellers living life on the road.
Tāwauwau is released on all digital platforms on March 20th, 2026, with thanks to Te Māngai Pāho for supporting the making of this project.
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