Born from an Inuk mother, a Newfoundland, French Canadian father, and adopted at birth by an Inuit family and raised in the isolated, Arctic, indigenous community of Salliuit, Nunavik, Canada – the Great North– singer, composer and filmmaker Elisapie Isaac has one of the most unique backgrounds I think most music fans will ever encounter. In fact, Isaac’s background and her admitted love of the equally legendary Leonard Cohen and Bob Dylan that have informed and influenced her music and the rest of her life’s work. Now, her gig last night at renowned and super intimate New York City venue the Living Room seemed to served multiple purposes – an introduction to Ms. Isaac, who was once a member of the duo Taima as a solo artist, as well as celebration of the Stateside release of her solo debut, There Will Be Stars.
And after seeing her live, Isaac and her backing band’s material is simultaneously familiar in its pleasant, rather radio friendly pop sound while being exotic, otherworldly and at times almost girlishly coquettish. Crooning with a voice that can easily alternate between sounding like a wisp of dissipating smoke, a heavenly and strangely seductive lilt, Isaac’s lyrics are sung in English, French and Inuit. We’ve all probably heard enough songs in English and French to almost be immune to how beautiful both can sound when sung but when Elisapie sings and chants in Inuit, like in her song “Inuk,” dedicated to a cousin who sadly committed suicide, it sounds older than time itself. Having an utterly charming stage presence, a girlish, vibrant twinkle in her eyes, she speaks English with a lilting French accent that makes her sound as though she’s constantly singing – with an irrepressibly infectious joy. Only those cold-hearted cynics could find a way to not be won over by this interesting woman, and because of that I think that she has a bright future ahead of her.
