“This album is about shining light on the hard and soft places of contemporary indigenous experience, as I’ve come to know them. There is joy,...

“This album is about shining light on the hard and soft places of contemporary indigenous experience, as I’ve come to know them. There is joy, pain and so much beauty there. I want to lift these stories up using every brush and colour in the pallet. In coming to know the breadth and depth of our Wolastoq song tradition, I’ve been inspired to expand my sonic offerings to their furthest extension. To this end, we’ve expanded the simple string quartets of Wolastoqiyik Lintuwakonawa into a full orchestra of strings and brass; simple harmonies for two are taken and offered to a conspiratorial choir of queer voices; speaking directly to the newcomer, in their own tongue, so that we all may witness these stories more clearly.

Shared tongue is a beautiful gift. with a complicated reason. Some of these songs are traditional Wolastoq melodies that I’ve re-interpreted at the piano, and yet others are completely freshly composed pieces, setting the words of my heart. The album ends in words not my own, but a series of three poems, in English, by Cherokee poet Qwo-li Driskill. These words first served as the catalyst for the rest of the record. “From the heavy debris of loss, together we emerge.” The poems take a specific singular story of a two spirit kin who was taken too soon, and calls us all together to witness, celebrate and heal.

My hope is that this music can be a balm in hard times."