Canadian Inuk singer-songwriter Elisapie has shared a cover of Metallica’s “The Unforgiven” with the release of their latest single “Isumagijunnaitaungituq.” It’s the third song they’ve unveiled from Inuktitut, which will include reimaginings of classic rock and pop songs in the Inuit language and musical traditions. She’s already released two spellbinding covers already: “Taimangalimaaq,” a sublime rendition of Cyndi Lauper’s “Time After Time,” and a momentous rework of Blondie’s “Heart of Glass” into the sonorously soaring acoustic ballad “Uummati Attanarsimat.”
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Elisapie reappropriates “The Unforgiven” as a power ballad about the downtrodden, one that she uses to honor the Inuit men of her community and her gravitation toward the unabashed lament inherent to heavy metal bands like Metallica. Like the original, every tone and texture of the song’s sparse instrumentation is sodden by vociferous sadness. From the heavy plucks and creaking shrieks of its strings to the anxious gallop of drums that it finishes with.
“As a teenager, I only wanted to hang around the gang of boys in my village. We would all go to my cousin’s house and smoke weed while listening to Metallica,” Elisapie said of the single. “The band’s music allowed us to delve into the darkness of our broken souls and feel good there. Men’s roles in our territory had been challenged by colonization, and it had become confusing what life was supposed to look like for a man.”
One of the cover’s many transfixing moments arrives near the middle, where its melodic sorrow is at its most eerily resounding, as Elisapie begins to throat sing (‘katajjaq’ in Inuktitut). The guttural cacophony punctuates the empty spaces between the song’s lulling acoustics with her breathy timbre. But it is also emblematic of the role of Inuit women as both throat singers and the mantle they took up to nurture the men through the harrowing transitions colonization presented.
“Isumagijunnaitaungituq” also arrives with a music video directed by Philippe Léonard that was filmed in Nunavik, Quebec. It offers a truly breathtaking vision of the scenery as viewed from the bucking edge of a canoe. Shots of the tundra’s stunning vistas and the incandescently emerald water that the camera occasionally dives under offer an ethereal accompaniment to Elisapie’s haunting vocals.
Inuktitut the new album from Elisapie is out on September 15th via Bonsound, pre-order it here.
Visit Elisapie on their website, TikTok, and Instagram to stay updated on new releases and tour announcements.
Elisapie tour
Jun. 28, 2023 – Salluit, QC – Salluit Spring Music Festival
Aug. 16, 2023 – Kuujjuaq, QC – Aqpik Jam Music Festival
Oct. 6, 2023 – Val-Morin, QC – Théâtre Du Marais
Nov. 7, 2023 – Château-Arnoux-Saint-Auban, France – Théâtre Durance
Nov. 9, 2023 – Saint-Malo, France – La Nouvelle Vague
Nov. 10, 2023 – Brest, France – Cabaret Vauban
Nov. 16, 2023 – Nantes, France – Trempo
Dec. 7, 2023 – Montréal, QC – Usine C
Dec. 8, 2023 – Montréal, QC – Usine C
Dec. 9, 2023 – Montréal, QC – Usine C
Dec. 20, 2023 – Québec, QC – Grand Théâtre De Québec
Dec. 21, 2023 – Québec, QC – Grand Théâtre De Québec
Jan. 18, 2024 – Salaberry-De-Valleyfield, QC – VALSPEC – Salle Albert-Dumouchel
Jan. 19, 2024 – Brossard, QC – Le Club Dix30
Jan. 20, 2024 – Sherbrooke, QC – Theatre Granada
Jan. 24, 2024 – Joliette, QC – Centre Culturel Desjardins
Jan. 25, 2024 – Gatineau, QC – Salle Jean-Despréz
Jan. 26, 2024 – Chambly, QC – Pôle Culturel De Chambly
Jan. 27, 2024 – Châteauguay, QC – Pavillon De L’ile
Jan. 31, 2024 – Longueuil, Québec – Théâtre De La Ville
Feb. 1, 2024 – Mont-Laurier, QC – Espace Theatre Muni-Spec
Feb. 2, 2024 – Saint-Jérôme, QC – Théâtre Gilles-Vigneault
Feb. 7, 2024 – Drummondville, QC – Maison Des Arts Desjardins Drummondville
Feb. 8, 2024 – Victoriaville, QC – Le Carré 150 – Espace Culturel De Victoriaville
Feb. 9, 2024 – Sorel-Tracy, QC – Marche Des Arts Desjardins
Feb. 10, 2024 – Waterloo, QC – Maison De La Culture De Waterloo
Feb. 15, 2024 – St-Eustache, QC – Le Zénith Promutuel Assurance
Feb. 16, 2024 – Mont-Tremblant, QC – Église Du Village
Feb. 17, 2024 – St Genevieve, Quebec – Salle Pauline Julien
Feb. 22, 2024 – Repentigny, QC – Théâtre Alphonse-Desjardins
Feb. 23, 2024 – Shawinigan, QC – Centre Des Arts De Shawinigan
Feb. 24, 2024 – Laval, QC – Salle André-Mathieu
Mar. 1, 2024 – Lévis, QC – L’Anglicane
Mar. 2, 2024 – Thetford Mines, QC – Le Vitrail – Espace Culturel
Mar. 27, 2024 – Ottawa, ON – National Arts Centre
Mar. 28, 2024 – Toronto, ON – TD Music Hall
Apr. 3, 2024 – Bishopric Of Grenoble, France – Festival Détours De Babel
Apr. 4, 2024 – Annecy, France – Le Brise Glace
Apr. 6, 2024 – Guyancourt, France – La Batterie
Apr. 12, 2024 – Figeac, France – L’Astrolabe – Grand-Figeac
Apr. 13, 2024 – Cenon, France – Le Rocher De Palmer
May. 2, 2024 – Montréal, QC – Salle De Spectacle L’Entrepôt – Complexe Guy-Descary
May. 9, 2024 – Val-D’or, QC – Théâtre Télébec
May. 10, 2024 – La Sarre, QC – Salle Desjardins
May. 11, 2024 – Ville-Marie, QC – Le Rift Galerie Théâtre Cinéma
Nov. 14, 2024 – Terrebonne, QC – Théâtre Du Vieux-Terrebonne
Nov. 15, 2024 – Saint-Damien-De-Buckland, QC – Maison De La Culture De Bellechasse
Nov. 16, 2024 – Saint-Casimir, QC – Les Grands Bois
Nov. 21, 2024 – Sainte-Thérèse, Québec – Théâtre Lionel-Groulx
Nov. 22, 2024 – Ste-Agathe-Des-Monts, QC – Théâtre Le Patriote
Nov. 23, 2024 – Lasalle, QC – Théâtre Desjardins
Nov. 29, 2024 – Saint-Hyacinthe, 10 – Centre Des Arts Juliette-Lassonde
Nov. 30, 2024 – Trois-Rivières, QC – Salle Anaïs-Allard-Roussea
Words: Steven Ward
Watch the music video for “Isumagijunnaitaungituq” (The Unforgiven) the new single from Elisapie below!
