Every debut album makes a statement, but few arrive as authentic, fully formed and resonant as this self-titled one by The Hello Crows. Emerging from their Wabanaki homeland (New Brunswick), this Indigenous collective—Dylan Ward, Judie Acquin, Emilio Quinn Bonnell, and Mattie Comeau—channels resilience, grief, and hope into a set of nine folk/rock songs that feel both deeply rooted and universally affecting.

The unforgettable lead single Come Back to Me (an anthem of language reclamation built on chant and collaboration), which opens the record, sets the tone. But before closing with a bewitching cover of Pura Fe’s Grammah Easter’s Lullaby, you’ll hear gems such as Red Flag (metaphors from toxic relationships in a new context), Let ‘Em Go Home (a tribute to Canada’s residential school survivors), and Coyote Song (colonization through the predator’s eyes—a call to remember and resist).

The powerful, evocative lyrics weave a tapestry of survival, memory, and reclamation—rising against erasure, while carrying the weight of history with both sorrow and hope. These feelings are enhanced by the atmospheric, warm music, but even more so by the four distinct voices united in harmony. This is a unique album steeped in tradition yet alive with contemporary urgency.

The Hello Crows’ eponymous album is out digitally, on CD and vinyl LP, through Castle Records, a new label imprint under the Forward Music Group. Featuring Stefan Westner on drums.

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