Tanya Tagaq - Saputjiji (2026) [Hi-Res]

Saputjiji, which means designated protector, is a potent counter-strike against billionaires, genocide, abuse and colonial systems. Produced by Sumach and Jean Martin, the songs of Saputjiji have their origins in armour and soft underbellies alike, the hardest and most vulnerable places. With “Foxtrot” and throughout the album, Tagaq deploys military imagery and convention against itself, Tagaq wields the very tools of power to naturalize and neutralize.

Saputjiji smells good, like burnt gunpowder, notes of deet and two-stroke engine exhaust. Stand at attention, breathe it in. On this new album, Tagaq ventures further with ambient, electronic and filmic sound design elements. From pulsing trip-hop ambience to sonic turbulence, Tagaq’s palate is acidic, tarry, and dissonant, a mouthful of soil contaminated by the poisons of violence, conflict and economic exploitation.

With percussion, synths and organ by producer and longtime drummer/collaborator Jean Martin, drum machine and synth by producer Sumach, Saputjiji also includes contributions from Jeffrey Zeigler (cello), Kevin Hearn (keys/synths), Fucked Up’s Damian Abraham (vocals), Patrick O’Reilly (electric guitar), and Celina Kalluk (vocals).

Tagaq’s musical and literary worlds further interlock with a second forthcoming project in 2026, Split Tooth: Saputjiji, a new stage production that will feature songs from the album. Directed by Kaneza Schaal, known for her boundary-breaking work in opera and theatre, the show brings Tagaq’s vocal soundscapes, imagery and creative world into a stage environment that blurs music and memory, land and breath, body and cosmos.