Telek (Papua New Guinea)

George Telek is a Papua New Guinean musician and singer who has been instrumental in promoting the music and culture of his country on the global stage. Born in 1960, he began his musical career in the 1980s as a member of the rock band Painim Wok before embarking on a solo career. Telek’s songs and his hauntingly beautiful voice traverse several musical styles that capture the spirit of the Tolai people of Rabaul, Papua New Guinea. Blending contemporary grooves with Melanesian rhythms, the music is filled with island harmonies and textured environmental sounds.

Featured Songs:

The Tropical Party song, "Lus Lo Solwara" is originally from Telek's 2022 album Kambek (I Lilikun Mulai). He sings about an ill-fated sea voyage. "They went on official trip to Pomio for the Provincial Government of East New Britain / On their return trip they got lost at sea / We are so sorry / We are crying for these men, these fathers / They got lost at sea / We are crying for them back here in Rabaul."

In “Kerevat,” sung partly in the Tolai language of East New Britain, George Telek reflects on love, distance, and the emotional pull of home. The Coffee Culture song’s title refers to a small town near his birthplace, a place that symbolizes connection and longing. “We shall stay together, you and me, at Kerevat / We made a promise,” he sings, before lamenting separation and the lure of the city. “What were you thinking when you travelled far away from me, when you went to Moresby?” Blending warm island harmonies, gentle stringband guitar, and the subtle textures of cello and keyboards, the song carries both intimacy and melancholy.

The closing track of Putumayo's Lotus Lounge, Wali” (Sorrow), is drawn from A Bit na Ta (2017), a collaborative art and music project created by Telek and Australian musician, composer, and producer David Bridie, along with the late Gideon ToBeovaira Kakabin. Commissioned for a Queensland Gallery of Modern Art exhibition on Papua New Guinea, the project explores the history of Blanche Bay in East New Britain from the perspective of the Tolai people, drawing on the traditions of their Tubuan society. Sung in Kuanua, the language of the Tolai, “Wali” is a song of mourning. “Sorrow, sorrow, sorrow for the saddened one / Up there, when she peers, it will overcome / For the sorrow of the saddened one.”

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