Sacred Wolf Singers - L'nu'k Mawiejik (2025)

This collaboration between Tee Cloud, founder of the Indigenous Sacred Wolf Singers, and the Canadian singer-songwriter and producer Simon Walls sets out to deconstruct and reinterpret the traditional pow wow music of North America’s Mi’kmaq people. Walls calls it an exercise in decolonising, reinventing the music for contemporary times while respecting its heritage. The strongest tracks are those on which Tee Cloud’s soulful voice is given prominence, such as the opener ‘Drum Song’, on which his tribal chanting is accompanied by thunderous percussion and Weissenborn lap guitar licks. Less successful are the tracks where Walls’ troubadour tendencies and sometimes platitudinous lyrics become too dominant, such as ‘Double Beat’ with its Laurel Canyon vibe and ‘Echoes’, which sounds like a Gary Glitter song At their best, as on ‘Sacred Women’s Traditional’ and the moody, minor key lilt of ‘Qanuilauqqaa’, the two elements blend seamlessly but it’s a bit hit and miss.



Tracklist:
1-1 Sacred Wolf Singers;Simon Walls - Drum Song [3:29]
1-2 Sacred Wolf Singers;Simon Walls;Tarwa N-Tiniri;Fakcha Uku - Powwow Crow Hopper [3:27]
1-3 Sacred Wolf Singers;Simon Walls - Double Beat [4:16]
1-4 Sacred Wolf Singers;Simon Walls;Fakcha Uku - Echoes [4:53]
1-5 Sacred Wolf Singers;Simon Walls - Straight jingle side step [2:57]
1-6 Sacred Wolf Singers;Simon Walls - Sacred Women's Traditional [5:08]
1-7 Sacred Wolf Singers;Simon Walls;Laura Niquay - Mi'kmaq Intertribal [3:54]
1-8 Sacred Wolf Singers;Simon Walls;Juurini - Qanuilauqqaa [3:58]
1-9 Sacred Wolf Singers;Simon Walls - Sneak Up [3:17]
1-10 Sacred Wolf Singers;Simon Walls - Wela'lioq Gisigu Kitpu [4:17]