Mother Love

iskwē and Tom Wilson

On paper, iskwē and Tom Wilson may not seem like the most likely collaborators. After all, iskwē’s powerhouse vocals and electropop sensibilities could not be more different from the bluesy stylings of Wilson’s gravelly baritone. However, on Mother Love, the duo find harmony in their shared knack for storytelling, which they use to explore themes of identity and belonging. While the album’s folk soundscape may favour Wilson’s wheelhouse, iskwē sounds right at home, particularly on tracks like “Rolling in My Dreams,” wherein her haunting harmonies work as instruments in their own right. But the beauty of iskwē and Wilson’s partnership truly reveals itself on the album’s namesake, “Mother Love,” when the duo subverts generic conventions to incorporate a marimba, which adds a sense of childlike wonder to an already poignantly vulnerable song. Ultimately, Mother Love acts as a stunning ode to the power of forming connections in the most unexpected places.