Black Belt Eagle Scout
The Land, the Water, the Sky
Release Date: Feb 10, 2023
Genre(s): Pop/Rock, Alternative/Indie Rock, Indie Rock, Alternative Singer/Songwriter
Record label: Saddle Creek Records
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Album Review: The Land, the Water, the Sky by Black Belt Eagle Scout
Excellent, Based on 4 Critics
Based on rating 9/10
From the earliest moments of her life, Katherine Paul was connected to her home, her heritage, and her land through music. She was raised on the Swinomish Reservation, growing up surrounded by her family's drum group, with music acting as a lifeline to her culture and spirituality. On The Land, The Water, The Sky, Paul's third album under the moniker Black Belt Eagle Scout, she explores deep into the roots of this connection, exposing the ties that bind, her people, and her music to the land itself.
Based on rating 3.8/5
Home is where the heart is In some ways, The Land, The Water, The Sky is a difficult album to pin down. Fusing dream pop, indie rock, folk, and slowcore in ways that invite comparison to a different plethora of better-known artists depending on the song, it's a record which can easily be critiqued for a lack of distinctiveness. At the same time, Black Belt Eagle Scout (a "love it or hate it" artist moniker, if I've ever heard one) makes this formula work with strong execution and a compelling narrative. More on the latter - this release was inspired by singer-songwriter Katherine Paul's pandemic-era return to her native land, the Swinomish tribal areas in the Pacific Northwest.
Opinion: Very Good
Photo by Nate Lemuel The Land, The Water, The Sky by Black Belt Eagle Scout Katherine Paul taps a deep connection to native American traditions in this third full-length, weaving landscapes and lore into songs the artist wrote while retreating homeward to Swinomish tribal lands during the pandemic. Yet while Paul is grounded in, as the title says, The Land, the Sea, the Sky, they mostly eschew obvious sonic references to an indigenous heritage. These songs blister and spiral and swirl in early 21st century guitar-centric, indie-fashion.
Opinion: Excellent
There is something timeless about listening to Black Belt Eagle Scout. Maybe this is because Katherine Paul is Swinomish/Iñupiaq from the Pacific North West. The music of her childhood was both alternative rock and traditional Native American. When you listen to her music you are transported somewhere else.
'The Land, the Water, the Sky'
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