Inuk singer-songwriter Susan Aglukark released her new single “For You,” also known in Inuktitut as “Igvit,” on September 8. The track is the lead single from her forthcoming EP “Disco Ball” and marks the first time she has adapted a personal poem into a song. Aglukark wrote the original poem in 2022 and developed it into the recording with longtime producer Chad Irschick, the Inuksuk Drum Dancers from Nunavut, Julianne Peters (Sweleyén) of the Tsq’éscen’ First Nation, and choral input from Inuk composer Deantha Edmunds.
According to the announcement, a portion of proceeds from the single will benefit The Orange Shirt Society and Aglukark’s own Arctic Rose Foundation, which supports Indigenous youth arts programming in the North. The Ontario Arts Council and collaborator Mary Piercey-Lewis supported sessions recorded in both Toronto and Iqaluit.
Aglukark, an Officer of the Order of Canada and three-time Juno winner, became the first Inuk artist to reach the Canadian Top 40 with 1995’s “O Siem.” She has a busy touring calendar ahead, including the Together for Nature tour with Terra Lightfoot in Ontario this September, a 30th-anniversary run tied to her album “This Child,” and her holiday production “Upinnaq: A Beautiful Christmas,” which plays multiple Ontario venues from November through early December.
Based on a press release provided to Music Industry Weekly by Eric Alper, thatericalper.com.