NYAA WA means “take care” in Charlie Needs Braces mob’s GuriNgai language, and the songs on the album emphasise the importance of taking care of lands, waters, and wildlife, and the need to keep culture alive, tell stories, and preserve sacred sites from development. 

NYAA WA, the second full-length album from Charlie Needs Braces, opens with the album’s first single ‘Dyarrubin‘, a message and reminder to protect and take care of Country. The album continues its theme with the second track ‘Kurrigoyung’ which means ‘shark’ in GuriNgai language. The inspiration for this song came from an experience when Charlie and her partner were kayaking and fishing down on Bruny Island in Tasmania and flows into singles ‘This Land’ and ‘Wompoo’, and the next track ‘Lorikeet Daze’, which uses a sample of a phone recording of the Yidaki made and played by brother Eden in Darwin inspired by a magical trip to Laniyuk (Berry Springs).

The second half of the album dives into the album feature track ‘Woy Woy’, meaning ‘water’ in the GuriNgai language. “At night the stars and Milky Way reflect over the water and you can hear and sometimes see the fish jumping in and out of the water in the moonlight. The last time we were there we were making a film clip and there were flatheads, bream, snapper, whiting, barracuda, and crabs. It was delicious and suited the adventures we were having whilst filming’ – Charlie Needs Braces 

‘Brother’ pays tribute to the many families who go through traumas dealing with family members who have a drug addiction, and mental health challenges, and ‘Mussels’ brings a light hearted vibe and the incredible dance moves that feature in their live shows, encouraging their audiences to flex their muscles and also eat mussels. Charlie wrote the lyrics whilst eating mussels on the beach and comparing muscles as she ate them, only noticing then that it’s the same word but spelled differently. 
 

NYAA WA closes with ‘Kariong Lands‘, a track about ‘Kariong’, a GuriNgai meeting place. Like many other areas nearby and across Australia this site is under threat of being cleared and developed into residential housing which will affect the native wildlife, damage the grandmother tree, and interfere with songlines and the passing down of cultural knowledge.

NYAA WA the latest album from Charlie Needs Braces is available now via Gyrostream.

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