"Sundown" is a song by New Zealand band

Six60 Six60 are a New Zealand pop rock band formed in Dunedin, Otago in 2008. The band consists of Matiu Walters (lead vocals, guitar), Ji Fraser (lead guitar), Chris Mac (bass guitar), Marlon Gerbes (synthesiser), Hoani Matenga (bass guitar) and E ...

, released as the final single from their third album ''

'' in August 2020.

Background and composition

The song's instruments are primarily samples of

taonga pūoro Taonga pūoro are the traditional musical instruments of the Māori people of New Zealand. The instruments previously fulfilled many functions within Māori society including a call to arms, dawning of the new day, communications with the gods a ...

(traditional

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

instruments). The samples were taken from an album by

Hinewehi Mohi Dame Hinewehi Mohi (born 1964) is a New Zealand musician and producer, best known for her double-platinum album ''Oceania'' (1999) and its lead single " Kotahitanga (Union)", performing the New Zealand National Anthem in Māori during the 1999 ...

, which the song's producer Malay used as a basis for the track. Six60's lead singer Matiu Walters felt the song was one of his favourite tracks from the band's third album, describing it as "sound ngexactly like where we are right now."

Release and promotion

The song was released as a single in the lead-up to their documentary film '' Six60: Till the Lights Go Out'' (2020). A music video was produced for the song, and released on 30 October. The video was directed by Connor Pritchard, who was given full creative control by the band, and shot over three days. At the 2021 Vision Feast Awards, the video won the Best Music Video award, and Pritchard was awarded the Visionary Director and Visionary Editing awards due to his work on the clip. During the band's 2021 tour, musician and choreographer Pere Wihongi was employed to create a

kapa haka Kapa haka is the term for Māori action songs and the groups who perform them. It literally means 'group' () and 'dance' (). Kapa haka is an important avenue for Māori people to express and showcase their heritage and cultural Polynesian identi ...

routine for "Sundown", which was performed by a different regional kapa haka group at each concert.

Critical reception

Alex Behan of

Stuff Stuff, stuffed, and stuffing may refer to: *Physical matter *General, unspecific things, or entities Arts, media, and entertainment Books *''Stuff'' (1997), a novel by Joseph Connolly (author), Joseph Connolly *''Stuff'' (2005), a book by Jere ...

described the song as "dreamy and aspirational".

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from

Tidal Tidal is the adjectival form of tide. Tidal may also refer to: * Tidal (album), ''Tidal'' (album), a 1996 album by Fiona Apple * Tidal (king), a king involved in the Battle of the Vale of Siddim * TidalCycles, a live coding environment for music * ...

. *Matt Chamberlain – drums *Ji Fraser – guitar *Chris Galland – mixing engineer *Marlon Gerbes – guitar, keyboards, songwriting *Chris Mac – bass guitar *

Malay Malay may refer to: Languages * Malay language or Bahasa Melayu, a major Austronesian language spoken in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore ** History of the Malay language, the Malay language from the 4th to the 14th century ** Indonesi ...

– engineer, production, songwriting *Manny Marroquin – mixer *Eli Paewai – drums *Paul Phamous – songwriting *Six60 – performer *Matiu Walters – songwriting, vocals

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{Authority control 2020 singles 2019 songs Six60 songs Songs written by Malay (record producer)