Biography
Canadian singer Riit fuses ancestral elements with contemporary ones through performances in Inuktitut, the tongue of the Inuit. On her first full-length release, the 2019 album Ataataga, she merges classic throat singing with melodic electro-pop to produce a striking, novel texture.
Born Rita Claire Mike-Murphy in 1996 in the small community of Panniqtuuq, also known as Pangnirtung, within Nunavut—Canada’s northernmost territory—she is the daughter of an Irish father and an Inuk mother. From childhood she was surrounded by music, taking part in summer programs focused on throat singing and guitar while later acquiring accordion skills during her college years. After relocating to Iqaluit, the territorial capital, she joined a lively circle of young Inuk artists creating and presenting material in their own language. There she started composing original pieces whose lyrics addressed social concerns, drawing partly from a difficult teenage relationship. Her self-titled 2017 debut EP appeared on Aakuluk Music, the imprint founded by the local folk group the Jerry Cans; it paired acoustic folk-pop lines with electronic rhythms and throat singing, yielding a distinctive style that quickly drew notice. She then joined the roster of Six Shooter Records, the same label that houses Tanya Tagaq, widely recognized as the most prominent Inuk throat singer, which led to shows in Paris and a London appearance before the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. In 2018 she took on hosting duties for the Inuktitut-language preschool program Anaana’s Tent. Produced in Toronto by Graham Walsh of Holy Fuck, her 2019 album Ataataga—whose title translates as “Father”—shifted fully into electro-pop territory, where warm and chilled sonic layers, field recordings, her gentle vocal tone, and otherworldly folk singing created an effect that subtly recalled Björk.
Born Rita Claire Mike-Murphy in 1996 in the small community of Panniqtuuq, also known as Pangnirtung, within Nunavut—Canada’s northernmost territory—she is the daughter of an Irish father and an Inuk mother. From childhood she was surrounded by music, taking part in summer programs focused on throat singing and guitar while later acquiring accordion skills during her college years. After relocating to Iqaluit, the territorial capital, she joined a lively circle of young Inuk artists creating and presenting material in their own language. There she started composing original pieces whose lyrics addressed social concerns, drawing partly from a difficult teenage relationship. Her self-titled 2017 debut EP appeared on Aakuluk Music, the imprint founded by the local folk group the Jerry Cans; it paired acoustic folk-pop lines with electronic rhythms and throat singing, yielding a distinctive style that quickly drew notice. She then joined the roster of Six Shooter Records, the same label that houses Tanya Tagaq, widely recognized as the most prominent Inuk throat singer, which led to shows in Paris and a London appearance before the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. In 2018 she took on hosting duties for the Inuktitut-language preschool program Anaana’s Tent. Produced in Toronto by Graham Walsh of Holy Fuck, her 2019 album Ataataga—whose title translates as “Father”—shifted fully into electro-pop territory, where warm and chilled sonic layers, field recordings, her gentle vocal tone, and otherworldly folk singing created an effect that subtly recalled Björk.
Albums
Singles
