Hataałii Inverts Indigenous Preconceptions on the Elegiac “Burn” From New Album ‘Waiting for a Sign’ Aug 14, 2024
Today, Hataałii — the 21 year old artist from Window Rock, AZ that has attracted a following as “a master at conjuring a kind of Southwestern saudade” (Aquarium Drunkard) — shares a new music video for “Burn,” a sanguine, dreamily rendered reflection on indigenous tokenism that serves as the latest preview of his new album Waiting For A Sign releasing September 13.
Hataałii says that “Burn” “suggests the shedding of, or simply adjusting to certain preconceptions, of what it means to be native to non-native people.”
As he elaborates: “Everyone should know that they can be anything, no matter where they come from, or whatever baggage their past might carry. I do consider myself “traditional” Navajo, but in my own way, that also gives me the room to not have to be anything at all.”
Video director Lonnie Begaye says the goal of the “Burn” video was “to capture what it means to ‘find more of who you are’ in a world that lives in constant motion.“
As Begaye continues: “It was a fun and creative shoot due to the nature of shooting on location at the Navajo Nation Museum and working with young talented actors from the Rez. The dreamy aesthetic matched with the historical perspective of a native who finds themself in a world in perpetual motion.”
As Hataałii metes out his careful, artful lyrics that revel in uncanny particularities and the desire to know the unknowable, Waiting For A Sign recalls the gothic pop of Echo & The Bunnymen (“Something’s In The Air”), the grubby beauty of Silver Jews (“Alex Jones”), and the softer sonics from Spacemen 3 (“Burn”), all conveying an atmosphere of mystery and melancholy amid a mirage of short stories.
Waiting For A Sign is Hataałii’s second album for Dangerbird following 2023’s Singing Into Darkness and, counting an array of self-released projects, his sixth album since 2019. Singing Into Darkness won plaudits from SPIN (who called him “2023’s breakout star”), FLOOD (“Hataałii is utterly charming, disarmingly approachable, and delightful in his playfulness”), and KCRW, and was named one of Aquarium Drunkard’sfavorite albums of the year.
This fall, Hataałii will be hitting the road for dates with Osees, The Slaps, Dirt Rhodes, and more. See all the dates below.
HATAAŁII LIVE DATES
SEP 6 — Durango CO @ Fort Lewis College
SEP 7 — Albuquerque NM @ NMFilm Conference
OCT 5 — Austin TX @ Mohawk (Indoors) [+ The Slaps]
OCT 6 — San Antonio TX @ Paper Tiger [+ The Slaps]
OCT 7 — Dallas TX @ Club Dada [+ The Slaps]
OCT 13 — Albuquerque NM @ Sister Bar
OCT 15 — Shiprock NM @ Shiprock Chapter [+ The Osees]
OCT 20 — Phoenix AZ @ Dirty Drummer [+ Dirt Rhodes]
OCT 23 — Albuquerque NM @ AMP Concerts, Tony Hillerman Library
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