Powerful New Inuit Album Celebrates Motherhood, Culture, and Resilience
OTTAWA, ON — Siqiniup Qilauta (Sunsdrum), an acclaimed Inuit cultural performance group led by mother–daughter duo Lynda Brown and Keely (Papatsie) Nicholson, is proud to announce the release of their debut album, Anaanaga (“my mother” in Inuktitut), arriving September 26, 2025. The release will be celebrated with a live launch event at Madahòkì Farm in Ottawa.
Blending throat singing, drumming, storytelling, traditional games, and live performance, Anaanaga is more than music—it is an intergenerational journey through trauma, survival, reclamation, and cultural pride.
Keely Nicholson (left), Lynda Brown (right)
Recorded at Banjaxed Records in Montreal between December 2024 and January 2025, the album was produced by Hitmakerz and supported by the Canada Council for the Arts. It showcases a stellar roster of collaborators, including:
Lynda Brown – Throat singing, drumming, vocals
Keely (Papatsie) Nicholson – Throat singing, vocals
Angela Amarualik – Vocals, throat singing
David Newland – Songwriting, guitar, vocals
Sam Allison – Bass, banjo, vocals, harmonica
Saskia Tomkins – Strings
Steafan Hannigan – Uilleann pipes, flute, low whistles
Oishin Hannigan – Drums, percussion
Noah Sullivan – Producer, engineer
Fenna van der Molen – Backup vocals
Name – Mastering
Thor Simonsen – Executive Producer
Album artwork created by Rob Nicholson.
At the heart of Anaanaga lies a deeply personal story told through spoken-word interludes and powerful musical arrangements. The album begins with ancestral breath—passed from mother to daughter through throat singing—and carries listeners through the history of forced relocations, residential school trauma, and cultural silence, before returning full-circle to healing, pride, and reclamation.
One track recalls Lynda’s mother’s memories of growing up in an outpost camp near Pangnirtung, Nunavut, and the unlikely friendship she formed with an orphaned polar bear cub. Stories like these are woven throughout the album, offering a raw, emotional, and ultimately uplifting portrait of Inuit women across three generations.
“Anaanaga is a tribute to my mother, my daughter, and to every Inuk who has carried our culture forward against the odds,” says Brown. “It’s about reclaiming our voices—literally and figuratively—and sharing our stories on our own terms.”
The album will be available on all major streaming platforms on September 26, 2025, with the release celebrated at Madahòkì Farm in Ottawa. Additional live performances across Canada will follow.
To follow the journey, visit sunsdrum.com
Press Kit: Link
Contact: For media inquiries, interviews, or bookings, please contact: hello@hitmakerz.com