Dutcher, Jeremy: Motewolonuwok LP

Five years after winning the Polaris Music Prize with his ground-breaking debut, Jeremy Dutcher has returned with a radiant exploration of contemporary Indigeneity and his place within it. "Motewolonuwok" extends beyond anything the musician has made before, encompassing traditional song, starlit ballads and staggering orchestrations. "With my first record, the concept was so clear, so complete", Dutcher says. "This time, I wanted [to make an LP] that wasn’t always so sure of itself". The follow-up is more intimate, more personal, inspired by his growing understanding of the "middle space" of being Two Spirit - Indigenous and queer. In the Wolasotqey language, Two Spirit people are called "motewolonuwok" - "the people of great spiritual power" - an identity filled with strength and knowledge, which is not dogged by shame. "Motewolonuwok" features Wolastoqey traditionals, poetry from by the Cherokee poet Qwo-li Driskill, but also Dutcher's first songs written in English. This is an acknowledgment of his father's tongue, and also a way of singing "directly to the newcomer [settler]" in their own language, to tell his community's stories of grief, resilience and emergence.