Recording: PIQSIQ

Artist: PIQSIQ

Song: unknown^*

Recorded at 918 Bathurst (Women From Space Festival 2022 – Night 4), May 1, 2022.

PIQSIQ - unknown

For the past three years, the Women From Space Festival has been an excellent encapsulation of its moment. Coming on the cusp of the First Big Lockdown, the 2020 Festival is remembered by many as the last event of the beforetimes, while last year's "hologram edition" was an elegant solution to the flatness of livestreams. And now, this year's Festival had to bear all the relief and angst of "returning to live" at this uncertain mid-point of the pandemic. Presented with joy and community spirit over four nights, the Festival was a chance to run into seldom-seen familiar faces and to hear a dizzying variety of sounds.

Hailing from Yellowknife, sisters Tiffany Kuliktana Ayalik and Kayley Inuksuk Mackay mix traditional throat-singing techniques with modern technology. On their recordings that includes electronic production and other flourishes, but for this live set, it was mostly represented by a loop station that turned their two voices into a whole landscape of sounds. Starting off with face-to-face back-and-forth hums and whispers, at times they were invoking harsh winds, bird calls, and lupine howls; and at others, moments of Enya-esque lush calm and giddy harmonies.

^* I'm unsure if this was an improvisation or a pre-existing piece of material — please leave a comment if you know!