Songs From The Inside, the successful Maori Television series that follows four top Kiwi musicians as they teach songwriting to prison inmates, now has its own album.

The all new album Songs From The Inside, produced by Anika Moa, Warren Maxwell, Maisey Rika and Ruia Aperahama and featuring songs by inmates at two New Zealand prisons, will be released on June 8 – two days before the series finale.

Gritty and thought-provoking, Songs From The Inside has been critically acclaimed since it premiered on Maori Television in March.

The series follows singer-songwriters Moa, Maxwell, Rika and Aperahama as they teach 10 inmates at Rimutaka and Arohata Prisons the art of writing, performing and recording their own songs in just 10 weeks. The 13-track album Songs From The Inside is the deeply personal conclusion of the musical journeys of the seven prisoners who completed the course.

Their songs are raw and heartfelt, and come to life in a broad compilation that includes soul, R&B, hip hop and reggae. The four artists - Moa, Maxwell, Rika and Aperahama - provide backing vocals and supplementary music, with additional beats by P-Money and drums by Riki Gooch. Maisey Rika also features on the album with What I Am and Warren Maxwell – who mixed the songs at his Stonefeather Studios - sings the series' theme song, My Gift, written by executive producer Julian Arahanga (Once Were Warriors).

Track listing

1. Whakataka Te Hau - Arohata Women, Anika Moa & Maisey Rika
2. Fatherland - Maera
3. Stuck In The Rain - Mo
4. Absent - Hana
5. Just Like You - Tama
6. Invisible Tears - Lena
7. Reflections - Mo
8. Whaddup Wid Dat - Nelly
9. Today - Lena & Anika Moa
10. Cries Of An Unhappy Child - Nicole
11. Life Is What You Make It - Tama
12. What I Am - Maisey Rika
13. My Gift - Warren Maxwell

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