Leanne Betasamosake Simpson – Viscosity : Listen

Michi Saagiig Nishnaabeg writer, scholar, and musician Leanne Betasamosake Simpson recently announced Theory of Ice, out March 12th, 2021 on You’ve Changed. Today Leanne shares the single for “Viscosity,” an indictment of constant connectivity and a call to return to a more natural state of being.

Leanne has authored several award-winning books including Noopiming: The Cure for White Ladies, This Accident of Being Lost, and As We Have Always Done: Indigenous Freedom Through Radical Resistance; as well as f(l)light, Bestasamosake Simpson’s first foray into blending the literary with the musical.

Theory of Ice once again marries the written word with sound waves, with songs that first originated as poems in Noopiming: The Cure For White Ladies, and then took the form of aural alchemy with the help of bandmates Ansley Simpson and Nick Ferrio, producer Jonas Bonetta, and producer Jim Bryson. The novel and the album are related but separate, reading one text may give greater understanding and appreciation to the other, but both stand alone as solid, independent bodies; similarly, the sequencing is non-hierarchical, avoidant of narrative arcs so that each song can be experienced for itself.

Viscosity, the property, is a measure of a fluid’s internal resistance, its internal friction. “Viscosity”, the song, rides a thick groove, a reckless darkness of thick bass and drums, as it ruthlessly dissects a contemporary world that celebrates connectivity over connection, taking hard measure of the inherent friction and alienation in our social-mediated society: this “yelling the loudest in the empty room”; this “feeding fish to insecurities.” And then, after an unexpected, disrupting piano solo, rising and falling, another voice enters, and the song rises, less alone, removing itself from that world of digital violence, peeling off from the “blue light.” A remarkable change is enacted and described: building a fire, alert to the coldness of the world, and the warmth of each other, in relationship, “careful moment after careful moment.” The careful, articulate delivery of the poetry, the communal act of playing music, of singing together, of listening to each other, of trusting in each other in the creation and generation of the song – this offers a model of how worlds are generated.

Theory of Ice is a powerful album, a critical examination of existence and time, be it in both literal and more metaphysical contexts. Leanne’s words stimulate and resonate, and her firm but extremely listenable vocals (with a refreshing male vocal harmony chiming in throughout) are emboldened by the album’s musical accompaniments.

“Viscosity was written about the pitfalls of an existence singularly performed on social media, and of finding our way to the land, the water and each other as reprieve, reparation and belonging.”

Leanne Betasamosake Simpson

Pre-order Theory of Ice on You’ve Changed Records or Bandcamp.

Calling out
Calling in
You’re not fooling me

Tethered to the kinship
of disassociated
zeros and ones

Shining your crown
of neoliberal
likes

Yelling the loudest
in the
empty room

Gathering
followers
like berries

Feeding
fish
to insecurity

Sliding
into
reckless moment
after reckless moment

We witness:

Too many holes in your hide
The broken skin of a canoe
The tightening of a mind
Tracks, leading nowhere

At the
beach
we build a fire

Sit in our
own
silence

Peel off
blue
light

Lie back
on
frozen
waves

Breath
in
sharp air

Warm
into
each other

Careful moment
after careful moment

Photos by Aaron Mason.