Today, Elisapie unveils a three-part video for the song Una via NPR. The track is off her album The Ballad of The Runaway Girl, released in September 2018 via Bonsound. The album was nominated for Indigenous Music Album of the Year at this year’s JUNO Awards.
Watch and share the video for Una via YouTube.
The Ballad of the Runaway Girl is available on all music services.
With this song, Elisapie draws her inspiration from one of the most significant moments of her life. Una - which means "I give you" in Inuktitut. The song is an open letter written by Elisapie to her birth mother, asking her how she felt giving her daughter up for adoption days after her birth. After Elisapie gave birth to her second child, she was struck by the profound question: how could her birth mother leave her in the arms of another mother?
In the North, among the Inuit, adoption is a common occurrence, a kind of demographic regulator. Living conditions are extreme in this part of the world and since people settled there 10,000 years ago, survival has been at the heart of family concerns. Adoption is traditionally decided by the elders, often to balance the number of children in each family.
This poetic music video is presented in three parts and is directed by Frédérique Bérubé. In the first part, Elisapie speaks to her birth mother, Eva. In the second part, the symbolism highlights the challenges faced by the Inuk singer following her adoption. Its images depict the relationship with the absent mother as a mirror to Elisapie’s own motherhood. The video also addresses love as well as a lack of maternal love. The final part echoes the first; the real Eva exposes herself to answer her biological daughter’s questions.
After grabbing the attention of NPR’s team at SXSW (thanks to her striking performances), Elisapie is embarking on a 10-date European tour. She will perform at the Printemps de Bourges and the Boule Noire in Paris, among other places. The singer will also perform at several festivals in Quebec, Canada and Europe this summer. Visit elisapie.com for more information about her upcoming concerts.
Tour Dates (More TBA Soon)
11/04/19 Belfort, FR // La Poudrière
12/04/19 Neuchâtel, CH // Case à Chocs
13/04/19 Châteaulin, FR // Run ar Puñs
16/04/19 Paris, FR // La Boule Noire
18/04/19 Berlin, DE // Auster Club
19/04/19 Guyancourt, FR // La Batterie
20/04/19 Bourges, FR // L'Auditorium (Le Printemps de Bourges)
21/04/19 Blois, FR // Chato'do
24/04/19 Lyon, FR // Groom
25/04/19 Pézenas, FR // Printival Boby Lapointe
03/05/19 Drummondville, QC // Maison des arts Desjardins
07/05/19 Sudbury, ON // Collège Boréal
08/05/19 Rouyn-Noranda, QC // Petit Théâtre du Vieux-Noranda
09/05/19 Ville-Marie, QC // Théâtre du Rift
10/05/19 Val-d'Or, QC // Salle Félix-Leclerc
18/05/19 Maskinongé, QC // Magasin Général Le Brun
15/06/19 Boucherville, QC // Parc national des Îles-de-Boucherville (Festival BESIDE)
24/06/19 Victoria, BC // Victoria Event Centre (TD Victoria International JazzFest)
28/06/19 Montreal, QC // Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier (Festival de Jazz de Montréal / Support for Blue Rodeo)
02/07/19 Petite-Vallée, QC // Chapiteau de la Vieille Forge (Festival en chanson de Petite-Vallée)
04-06/07/19 Chicoutimi, QC // Zone Portuaire (La Noce)
20/07/19 Spa, BE // Francofolies de Spa
21/07/19 Carhaix-Plouguer, FR // Les Vieilles Charrues
23/07/19 Nyon, CH // Paléo Festival
11/08/19 Gaspé, QC // Cap-Bon-Ami (Festival du Bout du Monde)