René Ranville was excited when he first heard Ussinniun, an Innu band whose name means Genesis.
“When I heard them singing, I said to myself and to Germain, These are the ones!”’ Ranville and his partner Germain Paul had found the first band for their new production company, Musique Premières Nations.
They let us listen to an advance copy of Ussinniun’s first album. It combines catchy tunes with poetic lyrics in the Innu language and an easy mellowness and folkiness.
The album has a place in every music lover’s collection and will definitely be high on The Nation’s playing list.
Ussinniun is made up of Rodrigue Fontaine, 23, of Uashat and Reginald Thomas, 30, of Maliotenam.
Among their songs is Metshu (“Eagle”), a ballad about an Elder who takes his family in the bush, dreams of an eagle calling him and then finds an eagle with a broken wing on a mountain. The Elder nurses the eagle to health and takes it back to the mountain to set it free.
There is also Uttena, about a man who moves to the city from his village, Neka Nuta, a song of thanksgiving to parents, and some love tunes.
The album will be officially launched in October.
