SOCAN Song of the Week

Piqsiq - “Jingle Bells”

• Written by James Lord Pierpont (public domain), arranged by Piqsiq
  
• Photo : Courtesy
  
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• As Piqsiq, the Inuit sisters and throat singers Tiffany Ayalik and Inuksuk Mackay leave listeners enthralled with their performances of traditional songs and eerie new compositions. The duo has been releasing, re-imagining, and reclaiming Christmas songs since 2019. This year, they offer a haunting arrangement of "Jingle Bells" -- originally written in 1857 by James Lord Pierpont, and now firmly in the public domain. Piqsiq change the familiar major key to minor, with minimal instrumentation, to striking effect. Their voices are solemn but compelling — the bells, and faint, drone-like keyboards are the only instruments beyond their voices. This version of the seasonal classic would sound perfectly appropriate if Tim Burton ever made an Addams Family Christmas movie.