AYSANABEE’S WATIN OUT TODAY

DEBUT ALBUM ARRIVES AMID RADIO, TOURING, AND MUSIC SCENE BUZZ

LISTEN TO WATIN HERE

Album cover painted by Montina Hussey

4 NOVEMBER 2022 (TORONTO, ON) – Aysanabee, the Toronto-based artist from Sandy Lake First Nation, releases his debut album Watin today via Ishkōdé Records/Universal Music Canada, the country's leading music company. Watin, named for his grandfather who is featured in audio Interludes throughout the collection, is a strong statement from an artist who is one of the most exciting and active new artists in the country.

In a whirlwind year, set in motion by his signing to Ishkōdé Records in 2021, Aysanabee has hit #1 on CBC Music’s Top 20, recorded songs from Watin for Apple Music’s Home Session and CBC’s The Intro, opened for The National, Half Moon Run and July Talk, and was selected for the 2022-2023 JUNO Master Class artist development program.

Asyanabee celebrates the album release at The Rivoli on November 8 with special guest Kyla Charter before boarding the CP Holiday Train with stops across the country. He will also perform at Indie88’s Sock Hop on November 10 and the annual Dream Serenade at Massey Hall on November 12. To start 2023, Aysanabee resumes his busy schedule with a tour with JUNO nominated Ruby Waters.

The story is more than his packed schedule; Aysanabee’s debut justifies the anticipation with its assured execution and scope. In Watin, Aysanabee’s search for the opposite state of loss and pain brings a sense of reassembly in real time. Throughout Watin, Aysanabee grapples with open-ended questions and missing pieces. The album is a work of renewal, gathering the fragments of language, family and memory as an immense and intimate work of rebuilding.

LISTEN TO WATIN HERE

SHOW DETAILS AND TICKETS HERE

Photo credit: Jen Squires

TOUR DATES

TORONTO, ON: Rivoli, Nov 8 w/ Kyla Charter **Album Release Show

TORONTO, ON: Indie88 Sock Hop, Nov 10

TORONTO, ON: Dream Serenade, Massey Hall, Nov 12

CP HOLIDAY TRAIN, Nov 28-Dec 11

PETERBOROUGH, ON: The Red Dog, Jan 18*

MONTREAL, QC: Bar Le Ritz, Jan 20*

OTTAWA, ON: Club Saw, Jan 21 + 22*

KINGSTON, ON: The Mansion, Jan 26*

TORONTO, ON: The Opera House, Jan 28*

*w/ Ruby Waters

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ABOUT AYSANABEE

Aysanabee’s voice introduces himself in a way that words cannot. Solemn and soaring, backed by a swirling blend of indie, soul and electronic soundscapes, mournful saxophone and pulse-quickening finger-picking, Aysanabee’s striking sound is equal parts hypnotic and melodic.

The Toronto-based songwriter made his entrance in 2021 with the jaw-dropping song “Ocean Breath.” The self-produced, self-released single quickly found a home with Ishkōdé Records, where Aysanabee became the new label’s first signing. In a whirlwind year, Aysanabee performed on major stages across the country, opened for Half Moon Run and July Talk, launched and curated an emerging Indigenous artist series in Toronto, and is releasing his debut album, ‘Watin’ in November 2022. Aysanabee is Oji-Cree, Sucker Clan of the Sandy Lake First Nation.