The glacier was singing.
Northern Irish duo Bicep were on a trip to Greenland, and when the pair’s Andy Ferguson visited the country’s famous Russell Glacier, he says he found it to be “like an orchestra of noise. The squeals and crashes that the ice makes were truly otherworldly.”
While many of us will never get the chance to hear these sounds in person, this glacier and other voices of the Arctic, human and otherwise, are incorporated into the lauded electronic duo’s new collaborative project Takkuuk.
Taking its name from the Inuktitut word meaning to look closely, Takkuuk is an audiovisual installation from Bicep (Ferguson and Matt McBriar) visual artist Zak Norman and filmmaker Charlie Miller that delves into the lives, communities and challenges facing artists Indigenous to the Arctic region. After debuting in London earlier this month, the installation will travel to Australia, Europe, Greenland, the Middle East and South American into 2026. Fusing electronic music ranging from uptempo to ambient with elements of the natural world, the ten-track Takkuuk soundtrack is out Friday (July 25) via Ninja Tune.
The project started in 2023 when Bicep was invited on an exploratory trip to Greenland by non-profit In Place of War, which works to use art to bring attention to places impacted by war and climate change. In the Arctic, Bicep spent the two week trip meeting with locals, having conversations and touring communities to better understand how their habitats and lives are being affected by climate change, as warming temperatures accelerate the melting of ice sheets across the Arctic. The film also looks at the displacement and marginalization of communities in these regions.
“The very obvious and initial impression of Greenland was of a landscape that was truly beautiful, but visibly under threat from climate change,” says Ferguson. While issues related to climate change can feel broad, faraway and existential, Takkuuk puts names, faces, stories and sounds to them.
“Climate change is a human crisis that affects all of us,” Ferguson continues. “Whilst we need to see headlines, at the same time we need to understand the impact on a more human level, and how climate change creates a chain reaction that has a real life impact on local communities and culture.”
While in Greenland, Bicep also met with local artists while attending Greenland’s Arctic Sounds festival, which features artists from the region. The initial idea was to collaborate on original music with artists they met at the festival and potentially do a collaborative gig at the following year’s event.
But when everyone got on a call to talk about the project, says McBriar, “it became clear that the artists being able to tell their individual stories was incredibly important.”
And so the idea expanded to become an audiovisual project, in which Indigenous artists from across the Arctic would be filmed telling their stories in their respective homes. Ultimately, this group came to include ten Indigenous musicians including Greenlandic rapper Tarrak, who also delivered his own animal sound field recordings to the project, Greenlandic indie rock band Nuija and Sweden’s Katarina Barruk, who sings in the Ume Sámi language that’s currently spoken by only a handful native speakers. Filmed in Greenland, Sweden, Norway and Canada, Takkuuk features everything from metal to traditional throat singing.
Along with the music and individual stories, the film also captivates via sweeping, Planet Earth-style views of the remote Arctic, showing viewers the glory of this ecosystem and the human lives, communities and traditions at stake in its changing climate. The idea is for the project to inspire action, with the film’s online hub containing information on everything from how to switch banking and pension institutions to more climate-minded entities, how to switch to better energy suppliers, traveling more sustainably and inspiring youth.
In an genre that can be mind-numbingly focused on hedonistic escapism, this project by the beloved duo demonstrates electronic music’s power to direct attention to issues that matter.
“Art can help give a voice and also a different perspective that makes visualizing the problems more impactful,” says Ferguson. “This can also help to share the stories of those on the frontline of climate change and reach more people who can ultimately help make change happen.”
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