Maatakitj

Following up on his 2022 six-track collaboration Noongar Wonderland with Aussie dance music producer Paul Mac (reviewed in #181), Indigenous West Australian academic-singer-songwriter Clint Bracknell – who performs as Maatakitj (meaning ‘skinny legs like a spear’) – returns with a more stripped-down approach.

Using just voice, electric guitar and percussion, Maatakitj (pronounced ‘mart-a-key-tch’) revisits his Noongar Wonderland tracks here, along with newer material. But this time the electronic dance beats are replaced by an almost-acoustic sensibility, and the songs are stronger for it.

Singing in his Noongar language, these reimagined melodies were redeveloped for Song Circle – a week-long large-scale event, as part of Perth’s inaugural EverNow Festival.

As a Professor of Music with a PhD in Noongar song, and an initiator of projects improving Indigenous community access to cultural heritage, Maatakitj’s singing is, unsurprisingly, pronunciation-perfect. His songs are further enhanced by well-harmonised backing vocals from Noongar wife-actress Kylie Bracknell, and minimalist rhythms contributed by Malaysian-Aussie percussionist Arunachala.

On new tracks like ‘Bindara’ (Lightning) – commissioned for a Kronos Quartet collab – ‘Yongkar’ (Kangaroo) and ‘Djaat’ (Sun), the mood is mostly laid-back, but Maatakitj is a solid album, with an Indigenous linguist’s eye and ear for detail.