Beatrice Deer teases new album during Montreal performance

Nunavik-born singer Beatrice Deer treated fans to some old favourites and teased her upcoming album during a stripped-back performance Aug. 8 at Montreal’s 35th First Peoples’ International Festival.

During her concert at Jardins Gamelin city square, Deer and her guitarist Jordey Tucker performed as a duo before a crowd of about 100 people.

“I have performed at this festival a few times,” Deer said in a phone interview. “It is good to expose our different Indigenous cultures to the Montreal population, because Montreal is a cultural hub.”

The city hosts multiple music festivals in the summer, including free shows that Deer said always have a good turnout.

During her Aug. 8 performance she teased her new album, to be called Inuit Legend, which is scheduled for release in the fall.

“Each track will be about an Inuit story or legend,” she said in the interview, adding it’s a concept album that took her more than a year to research and produce.

“We are super excited about it,” she said.

Most of the album will be in Inuktitut, with a few songs in English and one song in French.

The legends are ones Deer learned as a child. As an adult, she said, “I had to research to refresh my memory. Each song is my interpretation of the legend.”

That process was something she was already acquainted with, as her previous album, Little Songs, released in 2023, was composed of traditional children’s songs she researched and then brought to the studio.

“I am really glad that people support our work,” she said.

Deer’s next performance is scheduled for the Global Indigenous Languages Summit in Ottawa on Aug. 12, then she travels to Toronto for the Festival of Indigenous Arts, Music and Culture on Aug. 17.

In Montreal, the International First Peoples’ Festival opened Aug. 5 and runs until Aug. 14 throughout the downtown. The lineup includes a variety of Indigenous artists, from free concerts to exclusive movie showings.