Experimental Canadian unit WHOOP-Szo split their time between Southern Ontario and the Ungava Bay Inuit community of Salluit, QC, making music that blurs the lines between genres like sludge, folk and psychedelic rock. Now, those two locations come together in the band's new video for "Mirror North" — and Exclaim! has got the clip's premiere.
The visuals blend footage from London and Salluit, highlighting the similarities and differences between the places, and exploring the theme of change versus familiarity. Band member Kirsten Palm offered the following statement about the new video:
Even though things are continuously changing, they can also, simultaneously, have a propensity for staying the same. It is fun to observe transformation and permanence overlapping. This is true of all places. Not just my little Northern village, but in Southern cities as well. Unfortunately, in the city, sometimes it is harder to observe this overlap due to the large scale of the spaces we travel in our day-to-day. I think, as well, that Southern Canadian culture has more of an eye for modification than it does for permanence. As the song says "There's hardly even a tree." We are changing our cities faster than nature can keep up.
In Salluit, there are no roads in or out of the village. Although it can sometimes feel limiting to find yourself in the same few kilometres day after day, the overarching familiarity of space creates an intimacy that is not possible elsewhere, even when those spaces change — especially when those spaces change. This is a prominent reason why I love Salluit. No matter where I am, in or around the village, I feel connected, continuously. I don't think I can say the same thing about living in the city. As we've said before; The North is a place of healing.
Despite the calming familiarity of hometowns, the band will be packing up and venturing across the country on tour this summer. You can see the list of upcoming shows below, and scroll past that to get your first look at the video for "Mirror North."
Tour dates:
06/24 Calgary, AB - Sled Island
06/26 Calgary, AB - Sled Island
06/26 Edmonton, AB - Wunder Bar
06/27 Calgary, AB - Side Track
06/28 Nelson, BC - The Royal
06/30 Abbotsford, BC - TBA
07/01 Vancouver, BC - Astoria
07/04 Victoria, BC - Goat Fest
07/05 Vancouver, BC - Thor's Palace
07/06 TBA
07/07 Saskatoon, SK - Sound and Silence Collective
07/08 Winnipeg, MB - Garrick
07/09 Thunder Bay, ON - Apollo
07/10 Owen Sound, ON - TBA
07/11 London, ON - Collateral Jamage
07/17 Guelph, ON - Incline/Decline
07/23 Halifax, NS - Menz & Molly Bar
07/24 Saint John, NB - Taco Pica
07/25 Fredericton, NB- Shifty Bits Circus
O8/01 Meaford, ON - Electric Eclectics Festival
The visuals blend footage from London and Salluit, highlighting the similarities and differences between the places, and exploring the theme of change versus familiarity. Band member Kirsten Palm offered the following statement about the new video:
Even though things are continuously changing, they can also, simultaneously, have a propensity for staying the same. It is fun to observe transformation and permanence overlapping. This is true of all places. Not just my little Northern village, but in Southern cities as well. Unfortunately, in the city, sometimes it is harder to observe this overlap due to the large scale of the spaces we travel in our day-to-day. I think, as well, that Southern Canadian culture has more of an eye for modification than it does for permanence. As the song says "There's hardly even a tree." We are changing our cities faster than nature can keep up.
In Salluit, there are no roads in or out of the village. Although it can sometimes feel limiting to find yourself in the same few kilometres day after day, the overarching familiarity of space creates an intimacy that is not possible elsewhere, even when those spaces change — especially when those spaces change. This is a prominent reason why I love Salluit. No matter where I am, in or around the village, I feel connected, continuously. I don't think I can say the same thing about living in the city. As we've said before; The North is a place of healing.
Despite the calming familiarity of hometowns, the band will be packing up and venturing across the country on tour this summer. You can see the list of upcoming shows below, and scroll past that to get your first look at the video for "Mirror North."
Tour dates:
06/24 Calgary, AB - Sled Island
06/26 Calgary, AB - Sled Island
06/26 Edmonton, AB - Wunder Bar
06/27 Calgary, AB - Side Track
06/28 Nelson, BC - The Royal
06/30 Abbotsford, BC - TBA
07/01 Vancouver, BC - Astoria
07/04 Victoria, BC - Goat Fest
07/05 Vancouver, BC - Thor's Palace
07/06 TBA
07/07 Saskatoon, SK - Sound and Silence Collective
07/08 Winnipeg, MB - Garrick
07/09 Thunder Bay, ON - Apollo
07/10 Owen Sound, ON - TBA
07/11 London, ON - Collateral Jamage
07/17 Guelph, ON - Incline/Decline
07/23 Halifax, NS - Menz & Molly Bar
07/24 Saint John, NB - Taco Pica
07/25 Fredericton, NB- Shifty Bits Circus
O8/01 Meaford, ON - Electric Eclectics Festival