Niriunniq is the second full-length record from Pangnirtung artist Aasiva. Due out on Nunavut Day, July 9 via Aakuluk Music, the record comprises eight tracks that embody and explore the titular concept: what it means to remain committed to hope even in the depths of grief, loneliness, and struggle.

“I have been going through a really difficult time in the last couple of years,” Aasiva explains. “My mother suddenly passed away in 2019, so it’s been interesting trying to navigate grief. But no matter what I’m feeling, at least I still have hope. At the end of every day, I’m beaten up emotionally or mentally, and I just say, ‘Okay, well at least tomorrow might be a better day.’ Holding onto that hope really kept me going.”

The process of writing Niriunniq, which translates to Hope in English, was a monumental challenge itself. After her mother’s death, Aasiva went months without being able to sing or write music. “I felt like I couldn’t carry on with anything anymore,” she says. “Music has been a huge coping mechanism, and during that time I felt like it was taken away from me.”

Finally, several months after her mother’s passing, she was able to put pen to paper again. The first thing she wrote was “Ungalirakki”, a song to honour her late mother. “Grief is something that we will all experience in our lives unfortunately,” says Aasiva. “It was very healing for me. It took me a long time, but I know that my mom is with me all the time. This song is to honour her, and also all of the people in my life that have passed away.”

Niriunniq was recorded with producer Jace Lasek (Besnard Lakes, Wolf Parade) in March 2020 in Iqaluit just before COVID-19 lockdowns. With no dedicated recording studios in Nunavut, Aasiva and Lasek tracked at Aakuluk co-founder and Jerry Cans vocalist Andrew Morrison’s garage and home, and Lasek finished the record at his Breakglass Studio in Montreal. After recording, Aasiva and Morrison talked through production and direction with Lasek over the phone from Iqaluit. Musicians in the territory are accustomed to working under different conditions than their southern counterparts, finding innovative ways to make art. “You gotta be resourceful,” says Aasiva.

The collaboration between Aasiva, Morrison, and Lasek produced a brimming, vivid coterie of sounds, from Aasiva’s roots in wavey ukulele-folk, to dreamy bedroom indie pop, to seismic, pounding electropop. Two spoken-word tracks— “Naglingniq Piruqsiatuuqpuq” and “Inngiusiit Sinnaktuuvut”—also punctuate the record, like thematic, theatrical intention-setting. Aasiva’s initial idea was to focus on the power of the voice, via her own singing, throat singing from fellow Pangnirtung star Riit, and beatboxing from Iqaluit rapper FxckMr.

“With every single song, there’s a little piece of all of us,” says Aasiva. “It definitely feels a lot more like me.”

“Namu”, the first single released to date from Niriungniq, glides with pulsing, driving synths and Aasiva’s vocals before splashes of ‘80s chimes and new wave guitar twang are introduced. The song also came through with intention, as it was written during a period of travel at the start of her career as an independent artist. Aasiva says it’s about open horizons: “I remember thinking, ‘Where is my music gonna take me?’ I always kind of ask myself that question.”

The single was followed-up with “Piqatiikka”, a darkened, back-alley electro-slowdance, building to a thrilling climax around Aasiva’s crystalline vocals. JUNO Award nominee and Polaris Music Prize longlister Riit’s throat singing churns in the background, like a steam engine propelling things forward. The track’s lyrics celebrate community and relations. For Aasiva, this means celebrating a legacy of communal and cultural survival amid colonization, as well as the everyday ways she and her community show up for one another; both elements are connected. “When I was with people I felt safe to talk to about my mom, I felt so empowered and so connected,” she explains. “This was my way of dedicating my gratitude to them, because ‘thank you’ just isn’t enough for all the love and support that they’ve provided me.”

“Tulugaq” (translates to ‘Raven’ in English) is Aasiva’s own folk legend, set to ethereal, pinging synths and echoing percussion. Born from a songwriting session with Iqaluit blues-rocker Josh Qaumariaq and inspired by the storytelling of Etulu and Susan Aningmiuq, “Raven” tells the story of the raven, a trickster, who convinces a woman that her husband has caught many caribou while out hunting. The woman eats their remaining food, only to learn her husband has only caught a lemming. She curses the raven to never speak lies again.

Tropical rave-up “Pigganaqtuq” follows, before the beautiful, melancholy, ukulele and woodwind-dappled hymnal “Ungalirakki”. “Pigunnaqtutit” returns to Aasiva’s strummed ukulele and harmonized vocals, coloured and bolstered by Lasek’s synths and percussion. It’s a tender, end-of-night comedown, and a loving, encouraging send-off to Niriungniq.

Hope is tricky: it isn’t always easy to come by, but it is an absolute necessity all the same. With her new record, Aasiva reminds us of this. “I think we all need a little bit of hope, all the time, to keep us going, and to know that the world isn’t always a bad place,” she says. “There’s some good things out there.”

In 2018 Aasive released her self-titled debut album which was nominated for Best New Artist and Best Folk Album at the 2019 Indigenous Music Awards, showcased at Breakout West in the Yukon, and reached over 200,000 streams on Spotify. That same year, Aasiva performed and led youth workshops across the North and toured internationally to the Migration Music Festival in Taipei, Taiwan.