RED FUTURE

AlbumSep 13 / 202416 songs, 59m 44s65%

Snotty Nose Rez Kids have always repped their roots in the Haisla Nation with equal amounts of outsized attitude and unsparing social commentary. But on their sixth album, MCs Young D and Yung Trybez seek to transcend trauma by imagining the better world the next generation could inherit. While *RED FUTURE* is dripping with the duo’s signature swag, it fuels a vision of Indigenous futurism that makes space for fellow creators from all nations and disciplines. On “FREE,” Chief Rueben George of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation delivers an inspirational sermon to tee up an anti-colonialist trap anthem infused with a gospel grandeur and a soulful chorus hook from alt-folk crooner Aysanabee. And on the towering title track, SNRK team up with Aboriginal Australian dance-pop duo Electric Fields to outfit their Indigenous utopia with a ready-made national anthem of its own. But the elevated conceptual ambitions of *RED FUTURE* never come out at the expense of the duo’s eccentric personality: On “FUTURE ANCESTORS,” they masterfully weave icy 808s, dramatic string arrangements, and otherworldly harmonies from avant-rock luminary Jeremy Dutcher, while still slipping in a *Shoresy* shout-out.

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8 / 10

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8 / 10

Your daily dose of the best music, film and comedy news, reviews, streams, concert listings, interviews and other exclusives on Exclaim!