Inuk Musician Elisapie Covers Metallica In Inuktitut, Recalls Interviewing The Band’s Kirk Hammett In The ’90s

Canadian Inuk singer-songwriter Elisapie has released a “bold, poignant and powerful” Inuktitut cover of Metallica’s “Unforgiven” in honour of National Indigenous Peoples Day on June 21st.

Her version, titled “Isumagijunnaitaungituq (The Unforgiven)”, is the third single off Inuktitut, Elisapie’s upcoming fourth solo album, out via Bonsound on September 15th. The emotionally charged adaptation pays tribute to the Inuit men of her community, and is also a nod to the time she interviewed Kirk Hammett, 60, from Metallica in the early ’90s.

“When I was 14 years old, I applied for a job at TNI, the first Inuit TV-radio broadcaster, and I was thrilled when I was chosen for the position! Everyone at the station dreamed big, and they put in a request for an interview with Metallica. The band was so loved in Salluit that we had to give it a shot,” said the Salluit, Quebec native, 46.

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“Metallica accepted only two interviews on their Québec tour, and TNI was chosen. In my boys’ eyes, I was the coolest!” she continued, noting that, as a teenager, she “only wanted to hang around the gang of boys in [her] village.

“The band’s music allowed us to delve into the darkness of our broken souls and feel good there,” she shared, explaining that, at the time, “Men’s roles in our territory had been challenged by colonization, and it had become confusing what life was supposed to look like for a man. My boys were seeking new roles, and subconsciously, I allowed them to be my bodyguards so they could feel strong. Looking back, I was trying to give them the strength to find their place.”

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Elisapie detailed the significance of throat singing, known as katajjaq in Inuktitut, that’s incorporated into the cover.

“It felt like katajjaq was so appropriate,” she said. “It is Inuit women who throat sing… Through this song, I wanted the feminine strength to balance the men’s challenges.”

“Isumagijunnaitaungituq (The Unforgiven)” is also accompanied by a breathtaking music video that was shot in Nunavik aboard a canoe, using a camera attached to the end of a pole.

“The footage oscillates between the emerald seabed bursting with light and the deep blue sky, which makes the sensual silhouettes of the tundra mountains stand out,” director Philippe Léonard explained.

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Elisapie’s new song follows the release of the singles “Uummati Attanarsimat (Heart of Glass)” and “Taimangalimaaq (Time After Time)” — three of the albums’s 10 covers of classic rock and pop songs from the ’60s to the ’90s. Every song is linked to a loved one or an intimate story that has shaped the person Elisapie is today. The Juno award-winner offers the songs as a gift to her community, making her language and culture resonate beyond the borders of the Inuit territory.

Elsewhere on this National Indigenous People’s Day, Elisapie will receive an honorary degree from Concordia University for her Inuktitut artistry and activism.

Listen to Elisapie’s “Isumagijunnaitaungituq (The Unforgiven)” here.