The beautiful, brash and bold Haida/Cree musician spent three years writing the album’s twelve songs. Already the longest time she’s ever spent on an album before unveiling it to the world, production was delayed, though not entirely halted, by the pandemic, prolonging the process even further. But in what seems an act of prescience, Super Blood Wolf Moon arrives at exactly the moment it needs to: the album’s layered thematic dualities—anger and love, optimism and despair—express the nuances so many are learning to embrace as they heal.

“I wrote this album wanting to find common ground for all who experience womanhood,” Sinclair explains. “I don’t want my identity to be that of a victim. I wanted Super Blood Wolf Moon to be a true account of how it feels to endure domestic violence and PTSD. It’s not only about what I’ve been through, but also what I’ve learned from women I’ve encountered throughout my life over the years.”

Sinclair’s well-polished, brutally honest songwriting delves into far too common experiences of violence, surfacing to breathe with softness and grit. She describes her songwriting approach as “visceral,” with music and lyrics written together in the moment. Super Blood Wolf Moon combines severity and symphony, weaving sharply gorgeous string sections alongside the howl of heavy riffs. Essential to the recording process was assembling an all-woman team, from the studio band to Sinclair’s producer and engineer. The album’s recording sessions at Jukasa Studios on Six Nations Territory in Ohsweken, Ontario and Arc Studios in Hannon, Ontario featured drummer Dani Nash, bassist Anna Ruddick, keyboardist Robin Hatch and string players Praise Lam and Blanche Israël.

Produced by Juno-nominated Terra Lightfoot, engineered by Jill Zimmerman and mastered by Grammy Award-winner Emily Lazar, Super Blood Wolf Moon’s multidisciplinary solidarity is palpable on songs like “Landback,” in which a chorus of singers shine forth from the commotion of grinding guitars to harmonize, “the world sings terribly, when no one’s listening, we’re here with you.”

Sinclair released her first album, the self-produced I Love You, in 2010, and followed it with 2013’s By The Sea Alone. In 2015, she released Dark Matter, which earned the Best Rock Album honour at the 2017 Indigenous Music Awards. The making of that album was documented in a six-part APTN series, Face The Music. Next, The Ability to Judge Distance was released in 2018.

Lightfoot had been hoping to work with Sinclair since the two crossed paths at the Dawson City Music Festival in 2015. When she heard Sinclair’s demos for Super Blood Wolf Moon, Lightfoot jumped at the opportunity to collaborate. “I believe this album will be transcendent, and set an example for young women in the music industry,” says Lightfoot. “It’s a true statement in celebration of women healing together.”

On lead single “Break,” Sinclair again holds space for women who’ve endured violence. The song culminates in the declaration that “no this is not the night”, one of many moments on Super Blood Wolf Moon that avows agency. “Writing that song, I was trying to get all those women’s voices out of my head. That clicked while I was in the studio,” says Sinclair.

Super Blood Wolf Moon is a triumph of Sinclair’s will. Among the album’s more raucous offerings is the lionhearted “End of the Rope,” its grind of chugging guitars making way for an eventual message of survival. “I’m still alive,” sings Sinclair—and the soon-to-be queen of classical grunge, at that.