A new album from Portugal. The Man is on the way. The band, originally from Wasilla, has made its love for Alaska known throughout its two decades of existence. But with its new album, “SHISH”, Portugal. The Man is putting Alaska front-and-center.
When Portugal. The Man won the 2018 Grammy Award for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance, former bassist Zach Carothers said in his acceptance speech that growing up, the band's heroes were dog mushers.
“We'd like to we'd like to rep this for all the kids in the villages,” Carothers said in his acceptance speech. “Shishmaref, Barrow, Bethel all the indigenous people in Alaska and around the world you’re beautiful, your culture’s beautiful, thank you for inspiring us.”
So when the band released the single, “Denali”, a reference to the tallest mountain in Alaska, it didn’t come as much of a surprise there was an Alaskan connection. But then came the singles, “Tanana” and “Mush” and it became clear this album was going to be an ode to Alaska.
The band officially announced the album title in late September. The name is a nod to the Seward Peninsula village of Shishmaref. The album art depicts a man dragging two bloodied seals across a snowy landscape. The album title, in bright-red, fills the blue sky above.
Dennis Davis is a resident of Shishmaref and longtime friend of the band. He said the titular track, “SHISH”, is among his favorites.
“The beginning, it's like, ‘are we going to Shish?’ just goes from there and it just starts hitting hard,” Davis said. “It's everything wrapped up in one."
Davis said he contributed several photos from the Shishmaref area to the album's promotional art, which shows "a little bit of everything". But the cover, he said, was taken sometime in the 50's or 60's.
The music video for the song “Mush” features a looping video of a dog team. The song pays tribute to lead singer John Gourley’s parents, both of whom raced in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.
Davis said the Gourley family’s first sled dog came from the late Iditarod Hall-of-Famer, Herbie Nayokpuk, more commonly known as the “Shishmaref Cannonball”.
“You've got a band called PTM with an album called SHISH paying tribute back to the people and the state. And it's just crazy going full circle,” Davis said.
There’s references to Alaskan communities all over the tracklist, like “Angoon”, a primarily Tlingit community in Southeast. There’s also “Kohkanockers”, a nod to the Yup’ik community of Kohkanock 100 miles west of Homer.
Davis said the band plans to bring its Denali concert tour to Alaska sometime in January. He said he’s helping the band scout venues in Unalakleet, Shishmaref and Nome.
Portugal. The Man’s new album “SHISH” is out November 7.
