''Medicine Songs'' is a studio album by

Buffy Sainte-Marie Buffy Sainte-Marie, (born Beverly Sainte-Marie, February 20, 1941) is an Indigenous Canadian-American (Piapot Cree Nation) singer-songwriter, musician, composer, visual artist, educator, pacifist, and social activist. While working in these are ...

, released November 10, 2017, on

True North Records True North Records is a Canadian independent record label. History True North Records was founded in Mississauga, Ontario in 1969 by Bernie Finkelstein. By 1971, True North was producing albums for various Canadian musicians, including Bruce Coc ...

. The album includes both new material and contemporary re-recordings of some of her older songs. It was preceded by the single "You Got to Run (Spirit of the Wind)", a collaboration with

Tanya Tagaq Tanya may refer to: * Tanya (Judaism),an early work of Hasidic philosophy by Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi. * Tanya (name), a given name and list of people with the name * Tanya or Lara Saint Paul (born 1946) * List of Mortal Kombat characters#Tany ...

Background

Described by Sainte-Marie as "a collection of front-line songs of unity and resistance," ''Medicine Songs'' was released November 10, 2017 by

. Produced in collaboration with Chris Birkett, the album features reworked and re-recorded material from throughout Sainte-Marie's career.

Promotion

As part of the Polaris Collaboration Session series, a video featuring Sainte-Marie and Tagaq performing "You Got to Run (Spirit of the Wind)" was released in February 2017. A music video for "The War Racket" was released in February 2018, animated by

Kurt Swinghammer Kurt Swinghammer is a Canadian singer-songwriter and visual artist based in Toronto."Canadian pop finds its own way to rock". ''Toronto Star'', 30 June 1989. He has released 13 full-length albums of original songs and as a session musician appea ...

. Sainte-Marie promoted the album in late 2017, giving radio, podcast, print and television interviews where she often reflected on how she was blacklisted by mainstream American radio in the 1960s and 70s, as well as issues related to reconciliation.

Reception

Described by one reviewer as "unflinching in its focus," ''Medicine Songs'' was a follow-up from 2015's ''Power in the Blood''. Receiving generally positive reviews, one critic bemoaned the "flattening of time and history" with re-recorded protest songs losing some of the signature features of their times, and with the songs ordered out of chronological sequence.

Awards

At the

Juno Awards of 2018 The Juno Awards of 2018, honouring Canadian music achievements, were presented in Vancouver, British Columbia during the weekend of 24–25 March 2018. The primary telecast ceremonies were held at Rogers Arena. Vancouver previously hosted the Juno ...

, the album won the award for Indigenous Music Album of the Year. It was also a nominee for Contemporary Roots Album of the Year, but did not win in that category. The album won the Best Folk Album award at the 2018

Indigenous Music Awards The Indigenous Music Awards, formerly called the Aboriginal Peoples' Choice Music Awards, is an annual Canadian music award, given out to Indigenous people who are in the music industry. The APCMA receives financial support of the Department of ...

Track listing

References

2017 albums Buffy Sainte-Marie albums True North Records albums Albums produced by Jon Levine Juno Award for Indigenous Music Album of the Year albums {{2010s-rock-album-stub