Motewolonuwok
Released
Five years after his striking debut, First Nations Canadian Jeremy Dutcher’s 2023 album Motewolonuwok proved it to be anything but a one-off, the combination of his rich singing voice in both Wolastoqey as on his first album and in English providing a new context for his meditations on identity, language and the claiming of space. The arrangements, a moodily elegant sonic blend often led by his piano, are vivid enough, but it’s the sheer flowing power of his vocals that sends songs like “Ancestors Too Young” and “Skicinuwihkuk” to the heights.