Releasing exclusively this Saturday, April 18 at 11am HST.
Aloha kākou!
The practice of weaving moʻolelo, story, legend, history, into creative expression is a living tradition. Through music, dance, and design, the premise remains the same: honor and perpetuate the narratives of the land.
Coolands and Island Rose is built on this foundation. We draw from the past and sprinkle small kine inamona; that roasted kukui nut essence, that irreducible ‘ike Hawai‘i, honoring the places that are not mere geography, but living repositories of Hawaiian culture waiting to be fully seen.
We think of Āinahau, the beloved estate that raised Princess Kaʻiulani, where the Apuakehau stream once ran as a vital waterway through royal grounds. No matter how many times you pave over Kaʻiulani Street, when the rain comes, Apuakehau reveals itself, proving the echoes of our kūpuna continue to provide perspective. We celebrate the surf breaks known the world over and the countless stories still tethered within the names of these places and people, details buried in mele, written histories, and recounts passed through generations.
We inhabit a time when fragmented realities can obscure what is profound. What sometimes remains are remnants, stripped of their original moral and spiritual weight. Yet the meaning persists, carried in a breeze that brings the scent of lipoa, whispering the names of flora and fauna that once filled this air, much like hula and mele that still moves through hotel lobbies and lu‘au.
This is captured beautifully in Āinahau, composed by Princess Miriam Likelike as a tribute to the estate gifted to her daughter by Princess Ruth Keʻelikōlani. In it, palm trees sway, exotic blossoms perfume the air, and peacocks mingle with native yellow-feathered birds; an immortalized portrait of a royal Hawaiian childhood, and of paradise.
So when you are in these spaces, say their names, softly, loudly, or just in your head. They will indeed be listening.