North American Martyrs is about reckoning with nationalism, history, and settler identity in Canada. The album is the result of a thesis project (The Making of Martyrs: Musicians, Mythmaking, and Counter-Discourse) that interrogated the role of cultural production in sustaining Canadian national myths through a case study of Gordon Lightfootâs âCanadian Railroad Trilogy.â The album attempts to show how cultural production can cut both waysâmusic can exist in a tension as both a tool for nationalist socialization and a medium for counter-discourse. A key inspiration was the work of Canadian historian Daniel Francis, who explains, âMyths organize the past into a coherent story, the story of Canada, which simplifies the complex ebb and flow of events and weaves together the disparate thread of experience. Myths are echoes of the past, resonating in the present.â
Each song seeks to unsettle glorified narratives about Canadian history by highlighting their purposeful omissions. The albumâs title track references the Jesuit missionaries who came to be known as the North American Martyrs, but it is not a celebration in the leastâit is a reframing that presents these individuals as a sinister force who descended upon these lands as an extension of the broader colonial nightmare. However, the albumâs title is intended to be more encompassing: all the so-called heroes, events, and topics covered throughout the album (the North-West Mounted Police, the railway, WWI, among others) are argued to be glorified through dominant narratives, akin to the concept of âmartyrdomâ or celebration after oneâs death. The albumâs title reflects the notion of individuals seeking legacy through their âdeeds,â as well as the cultural producers who reimagine their legacies for new audiences as time passes. Through commemoration (for example, through statues, monuments, place names, anniversaries, songs, and stories) an individual can become transformed into a symbol or something to live up toâa hero for us to hoist aloft above any doubt or criticism. This mythical status can prevent meaningful and necessary discourse around the realities and nuances of an individualâs life, death, and legacy. The album seeks to unravel myth and memory in the past and present.