One of the most intriguing recording artists out of Canada today is Tanya Tagaq. Her blending of a typical rock approach vocally with Inuit throat singing is gripping. This is her fourth album and she shows that her Polaris Prize win a couple of years back was not a fluke. Actually, it goes even a step beyond the prize winning Animism. On Retribution she was able to capture in the studio what she does on stage. It is free, wild, emotional and wonderfully chaotic. Most of the time when an artist records a lengthy song we all roll our eyes over the self-indulgence. There are a couple of songs that clock in at over seven minutes, title track “Retribution” and “Summoning”, but they are amongst the strongest moments to be found amidst an album with nary a weak one. Even the lightest song of the bunch, “Centre” which features fellow Canadian Shad is a delightful change of pace with its funky beats. As far as content goes, most of the songs have something to do with the environment and how we have been abusing the planet we live on. If we don’t change that behaviour Tagaq predicts an apocalypse and urges us in a full-throated way to wake up. This is no demure flower and that is exactly what the world needs – musically and in order to spur us on to change.
Tanya Tagaq – Retribution
