Recipient of the Félix Indigenous Artist of the Year 2021, Kiki Harper, aka Anachnid, has been making her mark on the extraordinary pop-trap scene for five or six years. Three years after her album with a strong RnB tendency Dreamweaver, the bilingual singer and beatmaker Oji-Crie is back with an astral and rich instrumental EP. Made up of three mystical and mysterious pieces, Freak of Nature is the soundtrack to an imaginary film that must tell the story of a protagonist in search of themselves going through a whole range of emotions. This saga is about danger, karma, magic, and reclaiming your power.
This is a new direction for the disciple of the spider, who has defined herself since the beginning of her project as an Indigenous musician anchored in the urban environment—she is based in Montreal. Even if the theme of nature carved out a place for itself on Dreamweaver, its trap beats and its way of alternating singing and rap had until now articulated a unique point of view on the relationship between Indigenous identity and urbanity. Here, trap gives way to distressing electro rhythms, like on “Warrior Woman,” and dense ambient, made of feverish synthesizers and inventive percussion on “War.” Add glockenspiel, horn and piano and you are caught in an unwelcoming forest worthy of a story not for children.
The voice of the young woman is no longer there to tell the stories, but becomes a disembodied rattle or an abstract breath, like the chorus of ancestors (humans and animals) with whom she dialogues. We are impatiently awaiting the sequel, perhaps a full-length album?
