Mali Obomsawin and the the darkly mysterious, artfully obtuse soundscape of "Triage" (Official Video)

 

Mali Obomsawin (Abenaki Nation, Odanak) is a multi-instrumentalist, singer and composer known for her solo work and her rock band Deerlady. She is based in New York City and Odanak, Quebec.

Close your eyes and absorb the darkly mysterious, artfully obtuse soundscape of "Triage" by New York / Odanak, Quebec based multi-instrumentalist, singer, composer Mali Obomsawin (with musical cohorts), and you will surely be transported to the unique, quirky, transposed indie film of your own making. While Obomsawin's jazz construction bloom throughout eventually, the opening a wash of what might be described as ancestral ghosts or ambient transmissions to otherworldly portals with mournful woodwind orchestrations that build upon themselves is not only mesmerizing but in the right headspace maybe even spooky or artfully disturbing too. This beautiful, enchanting disarray of sounds, especially when the bass and drums explode in jazz punk ways, in terms of world building and storytelling, feel extremely cinematic and I thought of composer Mica Levi's abstract work on 2023's The Zone of Interest or Mark Korven's impactful dissonant work on The Lighthouse (2019), and how dark tensions and free form-esque jazz orchestrations work so well together and let's not NOT note that one of the instrumental elements of "Triage"is Andrew Broder on turntables. This is a good time to mention the other 'players' Adam O'Farrill on trumpet, Zack O'Farrill on drums, Mali Obomsawin on bass, Magdalena Abrego on guitar and Al Burik on woodwinds. The more I listen to "Triage", the dark flavors the sense of stepping through sonic portals or colliding portals I feel like a new genre name is in order, namely "found footage jazz".

I hope you listen to "Triage" with closed cup headphones and watch the Rorschach-ian imagery in you head. "Triage" is from Mali Obomsawin's upcoming second solo album called "Automatic". Her previous highly acclaimed debut solo album was "Sweet Tooth" from 2022. She also collabed on 2024's "Greatest Hits" with experimental rock duo Deerlady and also released "Symbiont" with Jake Blount the same year. All that and Mali also scored the film “Sugarcane” (2025)  which was nominated for the Academy Awards' Best Documentary Feature. Wow.

-Robb Donker Curtius

 

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THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM 

https://open.spotify.com/artist/4MQzIvdXOAdlGvBM2KKqp5

https://www.instagram.com/maliobomsawin

https://www.maliobomsawin.com

https://www.facebook.com/maliobomsawin


Mali Obomsawin (Abenaki Nation, Odanak) is a multi-instrumentalist, singer and composer known for her solo work and her rock band Deerlady. She is based in New York City and Odanak, Quebec.

Mali’s albums Sweet Tooth (2022) and Greatest Hits (released as ‘Deerlady’ in 2024) have garnered critical acclaim from Stereogum, KEXP, NPR, and The Guardian. Her projects have brought her to Big Ears and Montreal Jazz Festivals, and earned her a name across experimental, free-jazz and rock scenes. Mali’s music has been featured in the Hulu FX series Reservation Dogs (2023) and is also part of an unsanctioned exhibition at the MET titled: "ENCODED: Change the Story, Change the Future." Encoded features 17 Native artists and won two 2025 Webby Awards.

Mali scored the film “Sugarcane” (2025) , which was nominated for the Academy Awards’ Best Documentary Feature. Her work was nominated for Best Original Score by the International Documentary Association and Cinema Eye Honors.

Mali Obomsawin, New York, Odanak Quebec, composer, bassist, film composer, multi-instrumentalist, collaborative artist, folk punk, jazz, abstract folk, found footage jazz, new solo album "Automatic",  "Triage" (Official Video)