RUBY SINGH TEAMS UP WITH KHARI WENDELL MCLELLAND, HOLLY ECCLESTON, GORD GRDINA, CHIN INJETI AND MORE TO FORM THE FUTURE ANCESTORS
SELF-TITLED LP DUE OUT OCTOBER 14, 2022
WATCH / SHARE “DOG BONE” HERE
BUY / STREAM “DOG BONE” HERE
Photo Credit : Kristine Cofsky // DOWNLOAD HIGH-RES
Ruby Singh is a descendant of the land of five rivers and the Moon itself, with Rajput lineage from the edge of the Thar desert. The Future Ancestors come together to conjure sonic remedies to heal, guide and inspire the spirits of our kin, both known and unknown, seen and unseen. From celestial to terrestrial, spanning ancient realms into what's to come, the Future Ancestors kick up stardust from the shelves of our spirits to bring joy into these trying times.
Singh has assembled yet another formidable crew with long intertwined destinies to undertake these visions; Khari Wendell McClelland and Holly Eccleston bring deep soul and harmony with their gift of song; The JUNO Award winning talents of Gord Grdina on oud and guitar; holding down the rhythm section are the phenom Kenton Loewen on drums, typewriters, dried flowers and glass bottles with the deep grooves of Peter Schmitt on bass; Paul Finlay crossfades and scratches like a painter across a canvas; and rounding out the incredible talent on this album are the Grammy and JUNO award winning flavours of producer Chin Injeti. The album was recorded and mixed by the gift that is John Raham at AfterLife Studios on the the lands of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, and səl̓ílwətaʔɬ/Selilwitulh Nations (Vancouver BC).
Tales of home and wandering, love and longing, justice and hope envelop this album. Weaving together inspiration from the Delta Blues and Qawaali to golden era Hip Hop by chopping and stitching samples into a tapestry of spirit expressed. He then gathered this stellar matrix of artist kin to embody and elevate the sound and feel.
A primal scream can be heard to begin the first single. “Dog Bone”, and a fierce demand for freedom and liberation is laid out over an infectious groove from the perspective of a pack of street dogs. With its bouncy and mischievous nature, the song also acts as a warning for anyone that would try to inhibit those freedoms. The Flavourcel Collective are behind the stunning animated music video. With a psychedelic backdrop we follow 3 dogs as they lay chase to their oppressors unravelling and ripping apart the leash that they tried to put on them. Playful and kinetic, the video is a fevered dream into the often surreal journey towards emancipation.
The inspiration for “Dog Bone” came as Singh observed a pack of street dogs in Delhi, "I was struck by their resilience and their passion for remaining wild amidst their life in the city. Watching how they stuck up for each other and how they ran the neighbourhoods they rolled through, got me into writing some raps and the song was born. I think our world is need of some rewilding and so i leaned into that for the this song"
WATCH / SHARE “DOG BONE” HERE
BUY / STREAM “DOG BONE” HERE
“This album has been brewing for some time, making sure we added all the right ingredients as needed,” says Singh. “For the better part of a decade, I've been writing these songs on napkins, in voice memos and on anything that could record or I could scribble on. When I initially started the project I brought in the amazing Allison Russell to sing the hook on ‘Coming Home’ and then she of course added her own spin to it, which we put into the scratching and mixing hands of Paul Finlay to treat those recordings as samples. Early in the process I brought in the talented Holly Eccleston and Khari Wendell McClelland to jam out the ideas and there was some serious chemistry bouncing between us in my small home studio. I knew I had to take my time to get the sound right and it's a dream to have these incredible artists all contribute their talents to this album.”
