Tanya Tagaq is one of Canada's most celebrated throat singers, having worked with the likes of Björk and Kronos Quartet. As she prepares for a performance at Guelph, ON's Hillside Inside festival next month, the vocalist has revealed her new album plans.
Tagaq's upcoming record doesn't yet have a title or release date, but it's apparently almost ready to go. Also, the album is said to be a more confrontational affair than her prior full-length, 2008's Auk/Blood.
"I was at a passive time in my life then [when making Auk/Blood] and this album is as absolutely angry as I want it to be," she told Exclaim! contributor Vish Khanna for his Kreative Kontrol podcast. "It's a lot harder but there are still pretty moments in it. I feel things shifting in my life right now and this new album coming out will be part of that."
Besides several originals, the album features a couple of cover tunes, including a version of the Pixies' classic track "Caribou." There's also an original number called "Fracking" that addresses the hot-button issue of oil industry expansion (and apparently not Battlestar Galactica).
"I was going to call it 'Frack Off' but I thought that was too funny," Tagaq said. "Basically, I wanted to sonically call attention to the ugliest and most terrible sound that could be associated with the most terrible things in the world. Like, what would it feel like if the Earth could feel that happening to her? I put all the negative energy I had into that one song. It's absolutely unlistenable — and I love it!"
She's hoping to name the album after one of her favourite paintings, but she still needs to get legal permission. She also wants to use the painting as the album cover.
Once this is out, Tagaq is planning to work on yet another album. The next one, she says, is either going to be "an electronic album — like drum 'n' bass or jungle — or metal. Or maybe even a mixture of those things."
Listen to the interview on Kreative Kontrol right here.
In other Hillside Inside news, Canuck rapper Maestro Fresh Wes has been added to the festival's "Fab 5 Cabaret," a multidisciplinary night including performances from Hillside, the Guelph Contemporary Dance Festival, the Eden Mills Writers' Festival, the Guelph Jazz Festival and the Festival of Moving Media.
Learn more about Hillside Inside, which takes place February 7 to 9, here, and see Tagaq's tour schedule below.
Read more about Tagaq's new album here.
Tour dates:
01/23 Halifax, NS - Rebecca Cohn Auditorium
01/26 Toronto, ON - The Theatre Centre *
01/28 Calgary, AB - Festival Hall
01/30 Edmonton, AB - Garneau Theatre (Workshop West)
01/31 Vancouver, BC - York Theatre (PUSH Festival)
02/08 Guelph, ON - St. George's Church (Hillside Inside) *
* duo with Michael Red
Tagaq's upcoming record doesn't yet have a title or release date, but it's apparently almost ready to go. Also, the album is said to be a more confrontational affair than her prior full-length, 2008's Auk/Blood.
"I was at a passive time in my life then [when making Auk/Blood] and this album is as absolutely angry as I want it to be," she told Exclaim! contributor Vish Khanna for his Kreative Kontrol podcast. "It's a lot harder but there are still pretty moments in it. I feel things shifting in my life right now and this new album coming out will be part of that."
Besides several originals, the album features a couple of cover tunes, including a version of the Pixies' classic track "Caribou." There's also an original number called "Fracking" that addresses the hot-button issue of oil industry expansion (and apparently not Battlestar Galactica).
"I was going to call it 'Frack Off' but I thought that was too funny," Tagaq said. "Basically, I wanted to sonically call attention to the ugliest and most terrible sound that could be associated with the most terrible things in the world. Like, what would it feel like if the Earth could feel that happening to her? I put all the negative energy I had into that one song. It's absolutely unlistenable — and I love it!"
She's hoping to name the album after one of her favourite paintings, but she still needs to get legal permission. She also wants to use the painting as the album cover.
Once this is out, Tagaq is planning to work on yet another album. The next one, she says, is either going to be "an electronic album — like drum 'n' bass or jungle — or metal. Or maybe even a mixture of those things."
Listen to the interview on Kreative Kontrol right here.
In other Hillside Inside news, Canuck rapper Maestro Fresh Wes has been added to the festival's "Fab 5 Cabaret," a multidisciplinary night including performances from Hillside, the Guelph Contemporary Dance Festival, the Eden Mills Writers' Festival, the Guelph Jazz Festival and the Festival of Moving Media.
Learn more about Hillside Inside, which takes place February 7 to 9, here, and see Tagaq's tour schedule below.
Read more about Tagaq's new album here.
Tour dates:
01/23 Halifax, NS - Rebecca Cohn Auditorium
01/26 Toronto, ON - The Theatre Centre *
01/28 Calgary, AB - Festival Hall
01/30 Edmonton, AB - Garneau Theatre (Workshop West)
01/31 Vancouver, BC - York Theatre (PUSH Festival)
02/08 Guelph, ON - St. George's Church (Hillside Inside) *
* duo with Michael Red