Elexa Dawson - Speak Again

“Speak Again,” Elexa Dawson’s third single since her debut solo album, Music is Medicine, is a call to remembering Indigenous languages “near erased.” Somber and driving, the song sparkles with cosmic country depth. Inspired by Robin Wall Kimmerrer's account of the loss of the Potawatomi language, Braiding Sweetgrass, former Delaware governor Jack Markell composed a poem called “Nine Remain.” He reached out to Kimmerrer seeking a Potawatomi musician to compose and perform the music. The author connected Markell with Dawson, who provided cultural context while putting the lyrics to music. The title evolved to “Speak Again” to offer a vision of a future where the language returns in a meaningful way to Potawatomi communities.