Jeremy Dutcher relases new album 'Motewolonuwok'
Jeremy Dutcher has released his sophomore record, Motewolonuwok, via Secret City Records.
In the Wolastoqey language, "Motewolonuwok" means "new song." And that's exactly what Jeremy Dutcher's sophomore album is: a new song for a new world.
Dutcher is a Two-Spirit singer-songwriter and composer from Neqotkuk (Tobique First Nation) in Eastern Canada. He's also a Polaris and JUNO Prize-winner, and his music is a powerful blend of traditional Wolastoqey songs with contemporary pop and classical elements.
On Motewolonuwok, Dutcher explores themes of identity, resilience, and healing. He sings in both Wolastoqey and English, and his songs are a powerful invitation for collective healing and understanding.
The album's lead single, "Ancestors Too Young," is a shapeshifting exploration of unrest, reflecting on the fear of loss that pervades the modern Indigenous experience. Other tracks, like "Sakom," feature a 12-voice choir made up of Dutcher's queer and allied kin, all joined together without any sheet music or fluency in the Wolastoqey language, finding their own wavelengths through call and response.
Motewolonuwok is an album that is both intimate and expansive. It's a transcendental protest record and an exploration of self. It's experimental pop as corrective medicine. It's a defiant, healing, and queer experience that fills any listener with power and wisdom.
In a time when the world is more divided than ever, Motewolonuwok is a reminder that we are all connected. It's a call for unity, compassion, and hope. It's a new song for a new world.
Stream Motewolonuwok, and watch the video for “Ancestors Too Young”:
