Although the band are primarily based out of Guelph, ON, Canadian sound collage experimenters WHOOP-Szo have recently called the Inuit community of Salluit, QC, home. The collective's northern excursion has already resulted in the release of one pair of recordings — the avant-garde collaborative double-album Qallunaat/Odemin — and now the psychedelic unit are ready to issue another LP. Listen to Niizhwaaswo on Exclaim.ca ahead of its May 27 release via Out of Sound Recordings.
Although originally recorded on four-track prior to the group's Arctic adventure, the album was fully finished in the North while running a screen-printing program for Inuit youth. Expanding on the groundwork laid on the band's previous pair of records, Niizhwaaswo finds the group toying with fuzz-laden feedback (album opener "Boat Cave") and hypnotic art pop ("Nizzhwasswi"), while still finding enough time for the occasional folk jam (standout track "Jan. 3").
"It melds elements of sound collage, disjointed parts, complex arrangements, and supreme momentum to weave sonic stories, all at once disorienting and enjoyable," the group said about the album in a statement. "We're both quieter and louder than our peers, while remaining unrevealed and unraveled."
Hear for yourself by listening to Niizhwaaswo in the player below.
Although originally recorded on four-track prior to the group's Arctic adventure, the album was fully finished in the North while running a screen-printing program for Inuit youth. Expanding on the groundwork laid on the band's previous pair of records, Niizhwaaswo finds the group toying with fuzz-laden feedback (album opener "Boat Cave") and hypnotic art pop ("Nizzhwasswi"), while still finding enough time for the occasional folk jam (standout track "Jan. 3").
"It melds elements of sound collage, disjointed parts, complex arrangements, and supreme momentum to weave sonic stories, all at once disorienting and enjoyable," the group said about the album in a statement. "We're both quieter and louder than our peers, while remaining unrevealed and unraveled."
Hear for yourself by listening to Niizhwaaswo in the player below.