Kanen

About

The artist

Kanen is the stage name of Innu singer-songwriter and producer Karen Pinette-Fontaine, based in Montréal and from Uashat mak Mani-Utenam on Quebec's North Shore. Her public solo catalog began in October 2019 with the three-song release Karen Pinette-Fontaine. The exact Spotify identity currently contains eight primary album and single containers from October 2019 through May 2025: two albums and six provider-classified singles. Her 2022 releases included Sailors with Matiu, Nimueshtaten nete with Louis-Jean Cormier, and Fuck That Shit. Kanen released the debut album Mitshuap through Musique Nomade in April 2023, followed by a fifteen-track deluxe edition in June. She co-produced Mitshuap with Simon Walls and Jérémie Essiambre, contributed voice and ukulele, and helped shape arrangements that connect folk writing with raw indie rock, distortion, and direct pop melody. The songs move between French and Innu-aimun as part of her continuing work to reclaim and strengthen her ancestral language through music. The deluxe edition expanded the project with material including Dead Shopping Mall, a collaboration with Safia Nolin. At the 2023 ADISQ gala, Kanen won the Félix awards for Breakthrough Artist of the Year and Indigenous Artist of the Year, while Mitshuap was nominated for Alternative Album of the Year. Radio-Canada had previously named her its 2022-2023 Indigenous Revelation, the first artist selected after the broadcaster introduced that category. In 2025, Kanen served with Alex Burger as a spokesperson for the Francouvertes and joined Héron on the single Bras solaires. Her current Musique Nomade roster page documents label and booking representation as well as performances at festivals and industry showcases across Quebec, Ontario, and abroad. Professional inquiries route through that official roster page. Her artist-controlled Bandcamp location and a direct ROSEQ interview identify Montréal as her base, while current Musique Nomade and Nikamowin records preserve her connection to Uashat mak Mani-Utenam and Quebec's North Shore.