Nanook

About

When Sony offered Nanook a deal on the condition that they switch to English, the Greenlandic band said no. They kept singing in Greenlandic, and it clearly worked out: in 2010 they sold 5,000 albums, which works out to roughly every tenth person in Greenland owning a copy. That makes them the country's most popular band. Brothers Christian and Frederick Elsner started the band in 2008, naming it after the mythological Greenlandic bear. Their sound is soft, melodic indie rock with a pop streak. The debut album, Seqinitta Qinngorpaatit, which translates as "Our sun is shining on you", came out in 2009, and they took the Best Album prize at the Greenland Music Awards in 2010 and again in 2014. They've also travelled well, playing the Sámi festival Riddu Riđđu in 2010 and 2015, and Roskilde Festival in 2019.