“I'm just so fascinated by the voice,” says Taja Cheek, the experimentalist and multi-instrumentalist behind L’Rain. “It feels so scary to me, but that's also what kind of draws me closer to it to try to figure it out.” It’s this fascination Taja credits with inspiring the dreamy and ethereal vocal manipulations on Fatigue, L’Rain’s second album. On this episode, Hanif and Taja sit down ahead of L’Rain’s upcoming tour to talk in detail about her process, the power of repetition, and confronting one’s own voice.  We’ll also talk about L’Rain’s upcoming show at BAM, where she is performing with Moses Sumney as part of a series of concerts curated by Hanif. Plus, stay tuned at the end of the episode as Hanif and Taja collaborate on a vocal experiment of their own. For the playlist of songs curated for this episode head over to https://bit.ly/oos-repetition.

Music In This Week’s Episode:

Find It - L’Rain
Halo - Beyoncé
I’m Goin’ Down - Bruce Springsteen
Work - Rhianna, Drake
Mr. Brightside - The Killers
Thong Song - Amber Mark
Ain’t No Sunshine - Bill Withers

Show Notes:

You can view the full Spring Music Series at BAM, curated by Hanif, here Tickets are still available for select performances.

To see L’Rain on tour, check out her tour schedule online.

Taja (as L’Rain) is currently a resident host at NTS.

Check out Hanif’s profile of noise artist Dreamcrusher in Fader.

Hanif recommends checking out this article on L’Rain collaborator Jasper Marsalis, who performs under the name Slauson Malone.

Credits:
This show is produced by work by work: Scott Newman, Jemma Rose Brown, Kathleen Ottinger, Rhiannon Corby, and by Hanif Abdurraqib. The show is mixed by Sam Bair. Extra gratitude to Joe Dawson and Saidah Blount at Sonos.