Wolastoqiyik Lintuwakonawa

Composer and singer Jeremy Dutcher explores his Wolastoq First Nation roots in this touching, enthralling album uniting past and present. By painstakingly going through Canadian archives and unearthing wax cylinder recordings of traditional songs from the early 1900s, Dutcher has no doubt helped save his ancestors’ music from extinction. But it’s his interpretations and arrangements of these extraordinary songs—alongside extracts from the original recordings—that will ensure their survival. All emotions are on a collection that includes a fiery wedding dance (“Nipuwoltin”), a lullaby (“Ultestakon”), and the opening track—a haunting, tender death chant (“Mehcinut”).