The Ballad of the Runaway Girl

For quite a few years, Montreal-based Inuk artist Elisapie Isaac had a decent if not transcendent career as songwriter, composer and performer. Then came a period of internal unrest: the artist lost her bearings in southern Quebec, and had to return to the North to sew up the fabric of her life. This harsh catharsis resulted in the rediscovery of her identity, and the attainment of maturity of expression. Condensed into songs, the story of her forward flight in search of her sense of self can now be considered an artistic destination in itself, and is one of the best albums from an indigenous Canadian across the decade.