Whangārei based Jenn Tamati is Junny. She’s been around the music scene awhile, collaborating with renowned electronica artist Amamelia amongst others. Sitting in Aotearoa’s innovative Sunreturn label family of acts, Junny is able to see her own art hitting the platforms. And I am glad of that.

As Uncle Bryn says (IYKYK) I shall tell you for why…

The track Kumara Suite is out now. It’s different to what one would expect from a 2026 release, in that there’s a sparsity to the composition and instrumentation that fills itself. I’m getting weird, you say? The instrumentation and orchestration is percussive virtually entirely. It’s a delicately woven blend of toms, drums, cymbal, and other elements of things that can be incorporated into something so deeply and intrinsically Māori. I am a massive fan of that.

Junny has added tactical breathing hits into the track, and the vocal has a great, almost understated backing vocal that adds a visual of the track being delivered live by a number of Tangata Whenua gathered in the Wharenui. Junny‘s lead vocal here is capable and confident, delivering a not-too-complex melody, and providing a continuing narrative to a nearly two hundred year old injustice.

To explain this, I’ll let Junny‘s own words from the EPK provide the enlightenment:

“…intended to tell a story of injustice, expressing frustration and anger, then self assertion and clarity, using simple words and raw elements. It is a protest song, a lot of my songwriting comes from that place.

“This was late 2019 and the protests at Ihumātao had quickly gained public attention and support. In their call for the return and preservation of land at Ihumātao, Mana Whenua shared some whakapapa of that land to help assert the historical significance of the site (ancient kumara farms with evidence of the unique farming practice of lining garden beds with sun warmed volcanic rocks). I was really inspired by this story telling and the idea of representing value using literal raw elements (rocks, plants, dirt).”

“With all of this, the whakatauki was playing on my mind – Kāore te kumara e kōrero mō tōna ake reka (the kumara does not speak of its own sweetness). A lesson on the value of humility which in many contexts is valid and good. Though, in the context of repetitive injustices, perpetual humility felt more like a tool of oppression and self pacification than a moral good.”

Written and produced together with the aforementioned Amamelia, this is the title track to the forthcoming EP due on 21st May. This is a really interesting piece of work audially as well as with the meaning behind it. If you’re one who likes the experimental, please do give this track a listen. It’s bold and uncommon, and the great blend of percussion options works surprisingly thoroughly in creating and filling that intangible sparse vibe I mentioned at the start.

Quality.