Stand On My Shoulders

Stand On My Shoulders

On Stand on My Shoulders, songwriter Nicholas Galanin’s second Sub Pop album, the songwriter and visual artist, who performs under the name Ya Tseen, luxuriates in the freedom that a genreless approach can provide. He fiddles with a number of different styles by inviting practitioners of rap, pop, psych-rock, soul, and R&B into the fold. “Ircenrraat” is a collaboration with fellow Indigenous Alaskan musician Ashley Young, a reflection on the culture that informs so much of their respective work. “Twilight” features both Pink Siifu and Sidibe and lands somewhere between minimal pop and lo-fi dance-rap. Sidibe returns on “Taste on My Lips,” an invigorating disco cut that also features Portugal. The Man and Meshell Ndegeocello. The melodies are buoyant and full of sunshine, but it’s Ndegeocello’s bass playing that steals the show. Throughout Stand on My Shoulders, Galanin invites his co-conspirators to embrace their signature styles, creating something that sounds familiar but is impossible to replicate.