Music

Ya Tseen is a continually evolving musical collaboration guided by Nicholas Galanin/Yeil Ya Tseen. Stand On My Shoulders builds on connection and revolutionary love as the foundation for collective liberation. The cover is a monoprint by Galanin based on a photograph of his father in Tlingit regalia, leaving space to be filled by future generations. An incandescent exploration of existence and a celebration of the persistence of love and connection to Land.

A bouncy new remix of "Close the Distance" from the group's 2021 Sub Pop debut, Indian Yard. The song was remixed by indigenous DJ Mar 66. Ya Tseen frontman Nicholas Galanin shares about this remix: "Mar 66 is one of the greatest Indigenous DJ & electronic artists from the North, a vital artist I respect and admire. Ya Tseen is thrilled to share this Remix with the world."

Released in conjunction with the start of National Native American Heritage Month, Ya Tseen ft Samantha Crain's cover of the Little Wings song "Look At What The Light Did Now" was originally recorded for season 2 episode 4 of the critically acclaimed FX/Hulu television show, Reservation Dogs and follows the group's 2021 debut record, Indian Yard. Frontman Nicholas Galanin shares, "My friend Sterlin Harjo, the creator of the acclaimed FX series Reservation Dogs, invited Samantha and I to cover Little Wings classic song 'Look at What The Light Did Now' for an episode in season 2. This was a high honor to contribute to one of what I would consider the best episodes of streaming television being made today. It's tough to capture love and Indigenous mourning, though I feel as if this episode did so in an elegant and powerful way."

Nicholas Galanin is one of the most vital voices in contemporary art. Born in Sheet'ka (Sitka, Alaska), Galanin is Tlingit and Unangax̂ and creates from his perspective as an Indigenous man. Alongside bandmates Zak D. Wass and Otis Calvin III (OC Notes), Galanin brings this experience to bear as Ya Tseen.