Elisapie’s recent song “Ummatti Attanarsimat (Heart of Glass),” a cover of the Blondie classic, caught the attention of Debbie Harry and charmed audiences in Quebec and abroad. Now, Elisapie returns with “Taimangalimaaq (Time After Time),” an Inuktitut adaptation of Cyndi Lauper’s famous hit. The Inuk singer also announces her next album, Inuktitut, to be released via Bonsound on September 15th, 2023. 
 
Like her previous single, “Taimangalimaaq (Time After Time)” was inspired by a childhood memory of Elisapie’s aunt Alasie and her cousin Susie:
 
“I was able to get through my pre-teen years, thanks to my Aunt Alasie, as my mother had neither the knowledge nor the experience to give me a crash course on puberty, fashion or social relationships. In addition to entering a new chapter in my life, we were in the midst of the 80’s and modernity was shaking up our traditional methods. My mother’s generation had lived in Igloos, and the cultural changes were too swift. 

Despite her struggles, my aunt ensured I felt accepted and exposed me to new and modern things like TV, clothes, dancing, Kraft Dinner and make-up! 
 
Whenever I went to my aunt’s house, I was in awe of my older girl cousins. They were all so cool and stylish, and they loved pop music and the crazy makeup of the 80s and early 90s.  One of my favorite memories is listening to the radio with them and hearing Cyndi Lauper’s “Time After Time” for the first time. It was like a lightning bolt, and I couldn’t separate the song or the artist from my older cousin Susie. For me, the song was all about her search for beauty, connection, love, and rising above pain.”

Available for pre-order (vinyl, CD and digital) as of today, Inuktitut is Elisapie’s fourth solo album. It’s a covers album that sprouted in the artist’s mind in the winter of 2021, when songs by artists such as Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Blondie, Fleetwood Mac, Metallica, Queen, and Cyndi Lauper, whose music once took over the community radio airwaves throughout Nunavik, Northern Quebec, triggered a flood of tears. Many of these songs were an escape as the community and cultural references were being challenged by colonization. Elisapie began a mental archaeological process; finding songs associated with emotional memories and people from her past. She followed that with a second, more prosaic quest. She sought the permission of the original artists to translate and adapt the songs that are now on this album.
 
Elisapie reinvigorates the poetry of these 10 songs thanks to the raw sounds of the thousand-year-old Inuit language and gives each track a unique and deeply personal quality. The tracks range from rock & roll and pop classics from the 1960’s to the 90’s. Every song is linked to a loved one or an intimate story that has shaped the person Elisapie is today. Through this act of cultural reappropriation, she tells her story, offers these songs as a gift to her community, and makes her language and culture resonate beyond the borders of the Inuit territory.
 
After announcing Uvattini, a special live performance that combines music, narration and video which will take place in Montreal and Québec City in December 2023, Elisapie is now announcing a more conventional tour that will take place in 2024. Click here for more information.

Photo Courtesy: Leeor Wild