This release is a way for us to share 'Our Island' beyond the song, its 60-page booklet gives full lyric translations along with artists' insights into their songs, and illustrations of the artists created from cultural elements and nature grant us a pathway to explore their cultural perspectives. With a hands-on meditation of creating your own globe, ‘Our Island’ is in your hands.
‘Our Island’ was recorded remotely from our island homes. Many of us have never met in person, we are yet to discover if we have legs. Online we shared our stories, songs, concerns and loves, usually interrupted by Sammy’s spontaneous Kabosy solos, Putad, Vaiteani & Luc’s children or our internet freezing again (even in the tropics!).
We could support each other in our concerns for our planet, we know at times these feelings are overwhelming, that’s a healthy response, but know you are not alone, there are many sharing these feelings. We are a part of a movement, a momentum for cultural change which puts our relationship to our planet at its core.
Available at our concerts, bandcamp & our website.
#1 Trans Global Music Chart 2022 Feb
Nominated - 2022 Golden Melody Awards TAIWAN - Best Indigenous Album & Album of the Year
Includes unlimited streaming of Our Island
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about
from Tim the producer
(The Ecology) composed by Marvin Gaye
in 1971, was an environmental anthem
for that era, confronting oil spills, the
legacy of atomic tests, pollution and
our neglect of nature — sadly still as
vital and relevant today. We aligned
with Marvin Gaye’s concerns, directly
living them, as artists, we owned these
concerns and brought in current issues
from 2021.
from Selina
I want to share a personal conversation
I had with our late climate ambassador
Tony de Brum. Before my closing speech
at COP21, I sat down with him and asked
“Is 1.5° enough?” Very honestly, he
said,“No, it’s not. For our country, no.”
But I remember after the
announcement was made, the Paris
Agreement was done, I was sitting
next to him, he was cheering so loudly.
I was looking at him feeling I don’t
understand, you just told me 1.5° is not
enough. He said “We’re not here to save
just our home, we’re here to save the
world. For a huge part of the world,
1.5° is their lifeline.”
lyrics
Originally in Creole of Mauritius
Animals are suffocating with plastic
And their dead bodies
Are lying on our beaches
They have been poisoned
By all the plastic coming
From far away, from the open sea
Originally in Amis of Taiwan
Whoa oh, mercy, mercy me
Where is the beautiful fish
I still remember that beautiful place
Ocean deserves respect
Originally in Paiwan of Taiwan
Whoa oh, mercy, mercy me
With my saddened heart
Rivers are covered with concrete
River has become turbid
What’s in your mind?
Originally in Tahitian of Tahiti
Oh, mercy, mercy me
Things ain't what they used to be
How painful
Life in the ocean is disappearing
Selina Leem
In English
Should I tell you what’s happening in backyard
My backyard is waves crashing
and breaking sea walls
2 meters high
My family’s only protection from the water
Marshall Islands’ got thirty-three years left
To the developed countries
One point five
What is that?
A promise
One point five is all we’ve got
It is all we’ve got
credits
from Our Island,
track released January 28, 2022
Composition — Marvin Gaye
Arrangement — Tim Cole
MAURITIUS: Emlyn — Lead vocals/ Kokol — Calabash
TAIWAN: Putad — Lead vocals, bass/ Sauljaljui — Lead vocals, moon lute TAHITI & FRANCE: Vaiteani — Lead vocals / Luc Totterwitz — Ukulele MARSHALL ISLANDS: Selina Leem — Spoken word (excerpt from her poem, ‘Just a Blue
Passport’)
MADAGASCAR: Sammy — Kabosy
PAPUA NEW GUINEA & AUSTRALIA: Airileke — Kundu, Congas AUSTRALIA: Tim Cole - Beats, Shakers
NATURE SOUNDS: Dawn Forest Sounds, Mount Gulaga, Australia/ Opening and closing statements by an 11 year old after the devastating 2019/20
Australian Forest fires/ Both her and the wildlife of Gulaga narrowly escaped the fires. All other samples from YouTube Creative Commons.
supported by 7 fans who also own “Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)”
I love these women. the voices mesh together perfectly; also the world music is exceptional. I have all of their albums and they're all excellent. Give them a listen. Steve Lake
