Treasure
"I come from a musical family, and one with a real sense of history.

My forefathers, who came from Ireland, were on the Midlothian's maiden voyage from England to Christchurch, New Zealand in 1851.

My grandmother used to sit me on her knee and sing songs like "Danny Boy" from as early as I can remember, and each one had a fascinating story of its own. A singer herself in her earlier years, she has always been a never-ending source of songs, and she travelled round the country picking up new songs to perform. It's this legacy of music that she's been passing down to me since my childhood, and it's many of these beautiful old songs that I've explored here on my new album.

But new music has to be written, new songs created, otherwise we are robbing the future of a past, and I've included on my album some new songs that I have written with people I've met on my travels around the world. I love the idea that in years to come, songs that I have sung, and maybe even some that I have helped to create, might get passed down through generations of families until they too become a part of history."

Hayley Westenra

Track by Track
Let Me Lie
"This is an original song that I co-wrote with Sarah Class, who arranged the music for my first album, Pure. It was a beautiful sunny June day in London. I was staying round at a friend's place and the sun was begging me to go outside so I went and lay down on the grass, which I hadn't done for a while, and I immediately felt at peace. The song describes the connection we have with the earth."

Le Notte Del Silenzio feat. Humphrey Berney
"Another original one, I wrote it with a guy called Antonio Galbiati, very old style, both sitting around the piano: I write the English lyrics and he writes the Italian ones. The chorus is in Italian and the verses are in English, a sort of meeting of cultures. I am a sucker for Italian song and before we wrote this we had had lunch talking about the great Neapolitan song legacy, humour, its ability to stir emotion, and most of all how it crosses cultures."

Shenandoah
"This is an American folk song that originated as a river shanty but became popular with sea-going crews around the early 1800's, and another of my Grandmother's favourites. There are literally dozens of verses, but I've chosen the ones that mean the most to me. It's great how the music evolves like this."

Whispering Hope
"I believe this is an American hymn, I first heard it in New Zealand, where it isn't as well known. We recorded the song with a choir. It's a very hopeful song which feels like a breath of fresh air."

Summer Rain
"This is a song I had the idea for but didn't have chance to develop, until one day I sat with a songwriter who was in my band on a US tour called Jeff Franzel, who developed it with me as only experienced songwriters can. It's a love song describing the way love can revive just like the rain on a warm day. I had the melody and had the lyrics and really wanted to take the song to completion, give a bit of structure to it. Sometimes those little details make the difference"

Danny Boy
"There's a bit of mystery behind the origins of the song. The lyrics first appeared in print in a traditional Irish music book, however I believe it was an English/American creation. Nanna and I used to sing the song all the time. When I told her on the phone I was going to record it, she just started singing it back down the line to me."

One Fine Day
"This is from Puccini's opera Madame Butterfly, which is set in Japan. The lyrics are originally in Italian, however I have recorded it in English. Long before I was old enough to go to the opera itself I had heard this version that I am performing here. It's in more of a song format, perhaps less dramatic than that performed by the divas of the time, but none the less poignant in that the story is just as gripping carried on a melody, that must rank among the greatest of the last century."

Santa Lucia
"This a Neapolitan song made famous by the great Caruso. It's another fun one to sing. It's basically a song about a guy going, 'Hey everyone come to my boat and we can sail across the waters, it's a beautiful night'. I take it in quite a different direction to the way it was immortalised by Caruso. I imagine being in a restaurant in Italy and a group of musicians gathering round to serenade me (in my dreams!!)."

The Heart Worships
"Written by Gustav Holst (of The Planets fame), it was one of his best-loved songs, the text for which he stumbled on by accident. I too found it by accident, and was immediately drawn into the depth of emotion in both sound and lyric. It has a calming peace, quite alien to the hustle and bustle of living in a major city."

E Pari Ra
"This is a traditional Maori song. In New Zealand we are surrounded by Maori culture and so I feel a strong connection with this song. I distinctly remember the weekly sing-a-longs at our school assembly where there would always be a teacher on hand to accompany us on guitar. Maori songs have this beautiful, haunting simplicity."

Sonny
"This is Irish in origin and is one of my favourite songs of all time. It's one that I've recorded with just the vocal and a piano. It's about a mother singing to her son, saying, 'Don't leave me here by myself; your father's gone away; don't leave me.' Absolutely heart-breaking! My great-grandmother was Irish so it's in the blood and I can vividly remember turning the words into pictures as she sang it to me."

Summer Fly
"I first heard this song a few years back and loved the feel of it. It was only after closely listening to the lyrics that I realised it was about the feeling of being young and how summertime simply flies by all too soon."

Melancholy Interlude
"This is a John Dowland piece. He's an English Renaissance composer and I first heard it played on guitar and loaded it straight onto my laptop. I was in Japan at the time and it was about 2 o'clock in the morning and got so excited hearing it! I just thought, 'Wow, this has an amazing melody and would work really well as a song' so I immediately started writing lyrics to it. Maybe I should be scared that all the John Dowland fans (he has a fanatical following) are going to hunt me down!"

Bist Du Bei Mir
"This beautiful piece by Gottfried Heinrich Stoelzel (often mistakenly attributed to Bach) has such a comforting quality. Even when I first heard it in New Zealand without really understanding the German text, it gave me a warm glow inside. I choose to be a singer and I wouldn't have it any other way, but there are many moments where I find myself alone in places like hotel rooms and this is a song that I turn to for comfort."

Abide With Me
"Abide With Me is a very well known hymn here in the UK and while it would appear to be quite a sombre song, it's actually a hymn which has the ability to pull you from your despair. I've recorded the first verse a cappella as I think the words deserve to be pondered upon and fully taken in."