Iskwé will be sure to make waves this year. The Irish/Cree/Dene singer (whose name is pronounced “ISS-kway,” meaning “woman” in the Cree language) has already been praised as an artist to keep an eye on by CBC Music, as well as hitting No. 1 on the National Aboriginal Music Countdown.

“I was always drawn to blending styles, but I don’t think it was purposely,” says Iskwé, freshly returned from Vancouver, where she performed at the 2015 FIFA Womens’ World Cup. “I just liked the way it felt to combine, and to kick out my own place in art and music. It took me awhile to find my comfort in my artistic skin, and that only came once I let go and stopped trying to fit in someone else’s mold.  I decided to just create my own.”

This is very apparent on her single “Nobody Knows,” an anthemic, hard-rocking, electro ballad and heartfelt tribute to the missing and murdered Indigenous women of Canada.

The summer found her performing at Toronto’s Pan Am games in July, and playing dates in Canada, the U.S. and Europe. Her next album, The Fight Within, produced by JUNO Award nominees The Darcys, is due in January of 2016.