Video: Elisapie Shares Fleetwood Mac Cover 'Sinnatuumait (Dreams)' Video

Currently nominated for Contemporary Indigenous Artist of the Year and Album Artwork of the Year at the Juno Awards, Elisapie now unveils a music video for “Sinnatuumait (Dreams),” off her album Inuktitut. 

In addition to her two nominations, the Inuk singer will perform alongside Jeremy Dutcher at the Juno Awards ceremony on March 24 at 8pm EST (broadcast via CBC TV, CBC Gem, CBC Radio One, CBC Music, CBC Listen, CBCMusic.ca/junos and CBC Music's YouTube page). Elisapie also launches the Inuktitut book, which serves as a listening companion to her latest album, and continues her tour in Canada and Europe.

On “Sinnatuumait (Dreams)," Elisapie pays tribute to her older brother Sailasie, who was killed in a fire at the local prison when she was just two years old: “One of my earliest memories is of being a tiny child on a motorcycle driven by a young man. Wrapped up in his large body, I felt safe, free, and loved, like we weren't just driving but flying across the tundra. I didn't know who this mysterious man was until many years later, when I learned it was in fact my older brother, Sailasie. I had always thought I had no memories of him. But that ride was a precious gift he left for me.”

“My mother, who could never listen to Fleetwood Mac songs without becoming very emotional, always told me how much their music reminded her of Sailasie. Although I had no memories of my brother, I felt a deep connection to him through the song [Dreams]. It became a cathartic gospel to us, a way for his spirit to come alive and dance around the room. Each time the song ended, we said goodbye to him, the way we couldn't in real life.”

“But now, knowing that Sailasie gave me that first memory of being alive and loved, the song has taken on new meaning. It is a dirge, a celebration of his life, and a way for me to give him back what he gave to me. Every time I hear it, I sing it back as a gift to my brother Sailasie.”

Directed by Philippe Léonard and filmed in the stunning Tundra landscape of Salluit, the music video is a powerful representation of this moving memory.

Elisapie created the Inuktitut book out of a desire to share her stories, her memories and the images of the North that inspired her latest album. This trilingual effort in Inuktitut, French and English explores the story behind each song off her latest album, and features a number of striking archival photographs.

The Inuktitut book is available now via Bonsound's online store and in various independent bookstores.

About Inuktitut:

On September 15th, Elisapie unveiled Inuktitut, her fourth solo album. In addition to spending four weeks in the Top 10 album sales charts in Canada, and five consecutive weeks at #1 on the earshot charts, Inuktitut garnered attention from KEXP, Le Monde, Vogue, Rolling Stone, The National (CBC News), ELLE Canada, Exclaim!, CBC Music, Toronto Star, La Presse, Le Devoir and many others.

On Inuktitut, Elisapie reinvigorates the poetry of 10 legendary songs (by Leonard Cohen, Blondie, Pink Floyd, and Fleetwood Mac to name a few) by translating and singing them in her mother tongue. The raw sounds of the thousand-year-old Inuit language gives each track a unique and deeply personal quality.

Each song, produced by her close collaborator Joe Grass, is linked to a loved one or an intimate story that shaped Elisapie's identity. Through this act of cultural reappropriation, she tells her story and offers these songs as a gift to her community, making her language and culture resonate beyond the borders of the Inuit territory.

About Elisapie:

Elisapie's unconditional attachment to her territory and her language, Inuktitut, remains at the core of her creative journey. Born and raised in Salluit, a small village in Nunavik which is only accessible by plane, Elisapie is an emblematic Canadian Inuk singer-songwriter. Since winning her first Juno Award in 2005 with her band Taima, Elisapie's body of work has been praised many times.

Her 2018 album The Ballad of the Runaway Girl was shortlisted for the Polaris Music Prize, and earned her numerous Félix Awards as well as a Juno nomination. Since then, the Inuk artist performed with the Orchestre Métropolitain de Montréal at the invitation of Yannick Nézet-Séguin, at the SummerStage Festival in New York City's Central Park, and at the NPR offices for her own Tiny Desk Session, as well as at several local and international venues and festivals. Always surrounded by the best musicians from the Montreal indie and folk scenes, Elisapie makes her culture resonate with finesse by mixing modernity and tradition.

Photo Credit: Leeor Wild

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