Visionary Inuit sonic storytellers PIQSIQ releases new album, Legends
The acclaimed Inuit throat singing duo PIQSIQ (pronounced “pilk-silk”), comprised of sisters Tiffany Ayalik and Inuksuk Mackay, has by no means shied away from grand ideas and revolutionary concepts. On their 2021 album Stay From Christ Church Cathedral, their alternative of recording venue symbolized a cultural reclamation in response to how The Church, in collaboration with the Canadian authorities, had primarily worn out the observe of conventional throat singing together with many different types of Indigenous track and dance by the Fifties.
On the brand new PIQSIQ album Legends, Tiffany and Inuksuk once more make a robust assertion in crafting eight items round beloved figures from Inuit tradition, with textural tracks originally and finish to welcome you into the expertise and gently place you again into your actuality—some well-known and celebrated, and others extra obscure however no much less fascinating. The file was tracked at Monarch Studios in Vancouver with producer Alex Penney. All vocals and percussion had been carried out by PIQSIQ with extra accompaniment and manufacturing by Alex Penney.
“We needed to honour our conventional tales—narratives that aren’t simply leisure, however elementary to Inuit identification,” Tiffany says. “These legends have lengthy been how we go on vital teachings: Methods to keep protected on the land, learn how to reside in the fitting relationship with one another, with the animals, and with the spirit world. These are tales of survival, respect, and deep connection to position.”
Inuksuk provides about their course of, “We created visible slideshows for every legend and sourced historic and up to date Inuit artworks that depicted these beings. Whereas recording, we projected these photographs within the studio, after which sang to what we noticed and felt. It was deeply immersive and visible; we let the visuals information our vocal responses.”
Each bit in Legends is a story journey, inflicting the listener to really feel as if they’re coming into a portal in actual time. PIQSIQ’s longstanding dedication to improvisation, one thing the sisters have beforehand struggled to harness within the studio, was tailored for Legends by recording reside, capturing and crafting vocals in a Boss RC-505 Loop Station. Utilizing this system allowed them to attain the perfect of each worlds—the dynamism of reside efficiency with the precision of contemporary manufacturing.
Accompanying the album will probably be an revolutionary motion-capture video for the monitor “Mahaha: Tickling Demon.” In line with the tales, Mahaha haunts the land and tickles folks to loss of life—in case you are discovered frozen with a smile in your face, it was possible the work of Mahaha. The characters look like a part of an alternate actuality, maybe that of a VR sport, the place Mahaha exhibits up unexpectedly.
In all, Legends marks a serious step ahead in PIQSIQ’s evolution, from the usage of conventional Inuit drums (qilaut) and different types of percussion to growing sonic storytelling expertise that convey historic characters and teachings into a contemporary immersive and emotionally resonant context.
“Every track is its personal mini-journey—epic in scale, but tightly composed,” Inuksuk says. “This album feels just like the purest synthesis of who we’re as artists, as a result of it brings us full circle in drawing on the tales that formed us as kids and reimagining them by means of the lens of our lives as we speak. By reconnecting with that sense of marvel, play, and cultural reminiscence, we had been capable of create one thing deeply trustworthy and rooted in who we’re.”