Katherine Paul has released Fantasy, her first new Black Belt Eagle Scout song in three years. Written during her move from nonprofit work to full-time music, the single addresses pressures she experienced in that work. Its video brings members of her family into the performance, with her cousin Priscilla Hensley sharing directing duties with Evan Benally Atwood.
Katherine Paul has released Fantasy under her Black Belt Eagle Scout name, returning with her first new song in three years. The Swinomish musician’s previous album, The Land, the Water, the Sky, arrived in early 2023. Extensive touring followed that album before health problems forced her to stop performing. In the intervening period she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, struggled to walk and lost the ability to play guitar.[1], [2]
Paul wrote Fantasy while moving from nonprofit employment to making music full time. She describes burnout and a loss of connection with her work. In Native nonprofit organisations, she felt pressure both to represent Native people as an exceptionally capable public figure and to fit systems that did not always reflect their identities. She wanted time for music, trees and a life outside those expectations.[1]
The accompanying video gives Paul’s relatives direct roles in the song’s visual presentation. Her cousin Priscilla Hensley co-directed it with Evan Benally Atwood. Paul’s mother, aunt and other relatives appear as dancers, wearing handmade Iñupiat garments. The family performance accompanies a song in which Paul addresses the pressures of capitalist society and their toll on her body through her own experience.[1]
