“.. on Zoon’s exquisite second album, Bekka Ma’iingan, Monkman frequently sidesteps conventional songcraft altogether and surrenders to the impressionistic power of sound.” – Pitchfork (7.7)
“…beneath the mesmerizing walls of sounds and languid stretches of ambient noise, Monkman’s music has always felt intensely personal, and tethered to the reality of their experience as an Anishnaabe artist.” – The Toronto Star
“An album of elegant ambience and medicinal reverberations…” – Globe & Mail
“a transportive set of shoegazer psych-rock with atmospheric guitars, shimmering keyboards, strings (arranged by Owen Pallett), serene vocals and lyrics of heritage, identity and acceptance.” – KEXP
“The music arrives in dusty, amorphous gusts of sound — sometimes revealing a strummed acoustic guitar, sometimes swelling with tremolo strings, sometimes surrounding Monkman with high, delayed vocals — that make every perception sound fragile and precious.” – New York Times
“…a gorgeous album loaded with texture and fantasy.” – Exclaim! (9/10)
“With an unpredictable, amorphous shoegaze sound, the Indigenous Canadian musician crafts their most opaque and open-hearted work.” – Pitchfork (7.7)
“… a powerful meditation on existence and destiny.” – AllMusic (4 stars)
“It’s transgressive and beautiful, challenging but welcoming, and fearlessly innovative” – Exclaim!
“With such a rich catalogue filled with vast and varied accomplishments, it’s hard to believe that Monkman’s outdone themselves yet again.” – Exclaim!
“Zoon’s ‘Bekka Ma’iingan’ Is a Captivating Force” – Exclaim!
“Restless and unrelenting, Zoon’s sophomore full-length is a more fully-realized articulation of Monkman, the artist. If Bleached Wavves was Zoon’s tentative first steps in exploring their identity and artistic vision, Bekka Ma’iingan is an exhilarating full-steam-ahead run into the world.” – Dominionated
“Zoon’s rarified take on shoegaze is embedded with self-discovery and hope” “Embedded with lush orchestral arrangements and hyper-fuzzed-out guitars, Bekka Ma’iingan is equal parts elegant and abrasive, colourful and austere. With Bekka Ma’iingan, Zoon proves themselves to be exceptionally innovative in their authenticity.” – Exclaim (Best of 2023 feature)
“Bekka Ma’iingan a sonically swooning LP full of spacious new age soundscapes, ascendant strings composed by Owen Pallett, six-string abstractions from Sonic Youth’s Lee Ranaldo and occasional moments of fuzz-drenched shoegaze” – Exclaim (April feature)
“‘Manitou’ is a moving new single … an atmospheric, cinematic track that places their airy, distinctive voice above deep, dark string and synth arrangements.” – themostradicalist (UK)
“Manitou… is both a callback to Monkman’s first project and a new beginning. … the music’s funereal orchestra and Monkman’s vocals, which seem to come forth from the strings like sea foam from a tidal pool, all work to swath you in a similar way to Bleached Wavves. It’s one of the most threadbare and devastating pieces of music that Monkman has released yet.” – The Fader
“Manitou” is an all-too-rare reckoning with nostalgia – The Fader
“… the astonishing number is personable yet expansive in its theme as it delivers an alluring peek at what’s to come from the full-length album that builds upon the momentum created by Zoon’s 2020 debut Bleached Wavves.” – Earmilk
“‘A Language Disappears’ is led by a transportive blend of sweeping instrumentation and vibrant, immersive visuals.”- Earmilk
“On “Manitou”, Zoon has crafted an experience that is beyond ethereal.” “The song is gorgeous. It is delivered with immense patience, where each and every element – whether it is the weeping strings, the trembling percussion, the lithe acoustic guitar, or the ambient waves of synths and electronics – sends chills down our spine.” – The Revue
“Regular readers will by now be familiar with Monkman’s work, an ever-evolving sound rooted in shoegaze that explores themes of activism and Indigenous experience. The new song continues this trajectory, a lush orchestral piece that strips any notion of shoegaze back to its bare bones, emotional swells rising up amidst the atmosphere of lingering melancholy” – Various Small Flames
“… the textured arrangements and intricate instrumentation of “A Language Disappears,” an indication that the forthcoming second Zoon album will exponentially expand upon Monkman’s signature moccasin gaze sound.” – Dominionated
“Bleached Wavves was more than a novel cross-genre fusion: Its rupture of splendor and sorrow allowed Monkman to soothe emotional wounds and preserve a cultural history imperiled by Canada’s legacy of colonization.” – Pitchfork
