Quantum Tangle
Quantum Tangle was a Canadian music trio from Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. The group started as a duo with vocalist Tiffany Ayalik and guitarist G.R. Gritt, before throat singer Kayley Inuksuk Mackay joined the band in 2018. The trio focused on melding traditional throat singing, folk rock, blues, and spoken-word storytelling into its own uniquely beautiful genre.
All three members of the group identify as Indigenous Canadians as Ayalik and Mackay are both Inuit, while Gritt identifies as Ojibwe-Métis. Drawing inspiration from their Indigenous culture, the band explores social issues around loss of culture, destruction of sacred lands from oil pipelines, the environment, and systemic racism in Northern Canada. Guitarist G.R. Gritt elaborated on the band’s themes of “identity and on being an Indigenous person in Canada today, or…feeling lost about who you are.” In 2017, Quantum Tangle’s album Tiny Hands won the Juno Award for Indigenous Music Album of the Year.
Central to Quantum Tangle’s art is the political nature of their music as an act of cultural revitalization. Many of their songs include the fading Inuktitut language such as Igluvut (meaning ‘igloo’) and the name Angnahiak (Ayalik’s 8 year old cousin, who is featured in the spoken-word song). During live shows, the band used their platform to educate the audience on colonialism and Indigenous histories. In addition to their musical performances, Quantum Tangle also worked with schools and community centers to raise awareness of the two-spirit Indigenous community, and support Indigenous pride and cultural revival among native youth.
Although the band has since broken up, singers Tiffany Ayalik and Kayley Inuksuk Mackay have come together to form a new throat singing duo called PIQSIQ while G.R. Gritt pursued a solo career.
Upon listening to Quantum Tangle’s songs, I was particularly drawn to their 2019 song Signal. The song opens with Inuit throat singing, which remains the bass for the duration of the song in a beautiful combination of Western and Native music. As the lyrics start, the audience comes to learn of the singer’s connection to the environment, particularly the ground where her ancestors lay. The song contains an entire verse in French, where Quebecois singer Lydia Képinski complicates the understanding of language and communication in this piece.
I think it is really interesting how social activism is embedded in their music, especially relating to oil pipelines. The band that I found also utilized their music to spread the word about oil pipelines, specifically the Dakota Access Pipeline. It is clear that the pipelines pose such a massive threat to native communities based on how it is infused into their art. The throat singing in their work is really interesting and different than anything I have ever heard before.
Quantum Tangle’s music really stuck out to me as it reminded me of some folk music that I like to listen to. The way every instrument is audible but also work together so well is a unique technique to get right and they did. I think the aspect of involving environmental themes into some of their songs is so cool as it’s not seen very often. I have already added a couple of their songs on to my outdoorsy playlist as I think it will fit in great. I don’t know how to put in academic language but I feel very grounded when listening to this music and I enjoyed that a lot.