Kamauu alters course with new album’s title

Natalie Ai Kamauu’s first four albums had one-word Hawaiian titles. This time the four-time Na Hoku Hanohano Award winner is going in a different direction. “La la la la” is a nonsense line from “The Shower Tree,” a song she co-wrote with Kihei Nahale-a as a mele inoa (name song) for her son.

Kamauu has one of the most beautiful voices in contemporary Hawaiian music. Her choice of songs shows it off perfectly. Several of her music industry peers are guest performers on individual selections, and Aaron Sala (piano), Hoku Zuttermeister (acoustic bass) and producer/multi-instrumentalist Dave Tucciarone join her husband, Iolani Kamauu (rhythm guitar), in providing instrumental support.

Three songs stand out. “The First Lady of Waikiki” is an original hapa haole song inspired by a visit to the Moana, built in 1901 and now the site of more than a century of memories. “Make You Feel My Love,” written by Bob Dylan, is neatly reworked with a hapa haole arrangement. And there’s a “ghost track” that kicks in 32 seconds after the final notes of “Ka Wai a Kane” that finds Kamauu taking chant to places few have gone before.

Kamauu completes “La la la la” with an illustrated booklet that contains the lyrics, translations and background information necessary to fully appreciate it.

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