Switched on Pop - The Appealing Uneasiness of Listening to L’Rain (Live at JBL)

Episode Date: July 23, 2021

L’Rain is the musical persona of singer and multi-instrumentalist Taja Cheek, whose new album, Fatigue, begins with a lyrical quandary: “What have you done to change?” What follows is a journey of self-discovery, the songs interwoven with home recordings of practicing piano, clapping games, and everyday life. The first full length song, “Find It,” repeats the mantra “Make a way out of no way,” looking for a path out of darkness. An unexpected sample of a preacher at a friend’s funeral service — recorded with permission by L’Rain — interrupts the chant promising that “Good days outweigh my bad days.” But L’Rain doesn’t provide quick solutions for making change. Rather, she takes us on a journey that evades easy understanding. By avoiding conventional structures, L’Rain asks the listener to lean in close to the music. The sounds are at times unsettling — on “Blame Me,” the guitar warbles in and out of tune — though the uncomfortable moments are blanketed over on songs such as “Take Two,” where warm synthesizers mix with angelic voices. The melodic hooks and captivating rhythms on “Suck Teeth” reveal L’Rain’s command over the experimental work — she is meticulous about building layers of sound on her many instruments. Had L’Rain pursued a more traditional style of songwriting, or further fleshed out Fatigue’s catchiest moments, the record might be an easier listen — but not as rewarding. Instead, its undulating moods and nonlinearity mirror the unpredictability of human emotion and the up-and-down nature of personal change. To help decipher this album, Switched On Pop’s Charlie Harding spoke with L’Rain at JBL’s flagship store in Soho in front of a live audience.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This is Spotify. Has arrived the new Good Girl Jasmine Absolute of Carolina Herrera, a fragrance intense with character gourmet and addictive. Imagine a jasmine emvolventy, caramelized, and tonka-tostata. A combination that seduce from the first instant and doesn't

and aweller. Good Girl Jasmine Absolute, hypnotica, irresistible. Discover it now and let you involver for susentia. This week we're bringing you something a little different, a live episode.

Earlier this month, I had the pleasure of interviewing the artist known as Lorraine at JBL's flagship store in New York City. Lorraine is the musical persona of the singer and instrumentalist Tasha Cheek. Her new album, Fatigue, has received rave reviews and landed her on a bunch of best new music lists. We knew we wanted to have Lorraine on the show after just one listen through her album. The work is a jumble of songs and sounds that walk the line between experimental and popular sounds.

It zigzags, stopping and starting, sampling found sounds and pausing at snippets of fuzzy homes. recordings. I honestly can't remember the last time I listened to something so unsettling and so comforting at the same time. I really love how the non-linearity of the album mirrors the unpredictability of human emotion and the up and down nature of personal change. So here's my conversation with Lorraine. Welcome to the live recording of Switched on Pop. I'm songwriter Charlie Harding and tonight I'm joined by Lorraine, the musical project of Tasha. Tasha. Thanks, everybody.

Taja, I want to start our conversation with the first song on your record. It's called Fly, Die. I feel like things are beginning very unsettled. What are we hearing? What's going on? Yeah, I mean, this came out of a practice that I've had for many years where I would just record songs

pretty much every day, fragments of songs. And this just kind of came out of me one day. and when it was finally time to make a new record, it was one of the things that really just resonated with me because it came out pretty fully formed, which doesn't always happen. It starts and then immediately stops. We get silence.

We get sirens and then some voices. And as the track continues, we get total bombast. We get air horns, all kinds of wild drumming. And if you'll allow me, when we fast forward to the end of this opening song, we get this very powerful question. What have you done to change? It sounds to me like this album is almost like a map for personal change. And this line we even hear, what have you done to change?

And the voice gets change and change and mutates. Can you describe what you're setting out to communicate in this album? Yeah, I mean, first and foremost, I kind of start with, myself because I have authority over myself and I don't have authority over other people. So I'm thinking about the ways that I want to evolve as a person, things I don't like about myself, regrets that I have, relationships that I'm kind of looking back at. I'm like, I could have approached that differently, really kind of laying it all out for myself to figure out how to, yeah, just evolve as a person, to be a better person. And I had a hunch.

when I was making it, that there are other people that might relate to that and that it might resonate with other people, but it always kind of starts with myself. Something I feel when I'm looking at this question of change that we even hear on this first track is that it is super non-linear. It doesn't have a clear formal structure. Your beat is made from found sounds as opposed to a drum machine that other people might use.

It's going to take us on a journey. Why don't we keep on listening and see where things are. take us. So I want to go to the next track, which is Find It. And it starts with this beat that sounds like it's made from vinyl warps and sounds of like banging on tables. And it turns into this mantra that you say over and over. So you're saying make a way out of no way. I find that your lyrics are very poetic, often evading specific meaning. I'm sure there's specific meanings for you, but as a listener, make a way out of no way,

make a way out of no way, it just becomes this mantra. You describe in your bio about this record that the songs are approaching songness. What does that mean? I like to experiment with different stuff. I like to

try things out and see where it gets me and I don't always know. So, I don't know. I really, I revere songwriters and I think it's such an important, beautiful craft. And I don't... I don't know if I'm making songs yet. I'm just kind of putting things together

and seeing what happens at the end of it. So they're kind of like songs, but they're kind of not. I want some freedom to do what I want to do. Well, it's kind of what I like about the journey of this record. It's like, there's some music that is like, pop song, I love you. We're like, we're just grabs you, you're in. And this is one where it's like, I've now listened to this record probably.

two dozen times, and its meaning grows. And I feel like I'm constantly, we're going to come back to this, but I feel like I'm constantly grabbing for, what is actually happening here? And I feel rewarded by that process. Speaking of your process about making found recordings through your life, there's a very powerful one that happens at the end of this track,

maybe queuing back, reminding that we've had this mantra, make a way out of no way, trying to forge a path out of nothing. and we end up in this sound. Can you tell me the story of what we're hearing? I'll start by saying that I didn't expect for that to be on a record. It really just came out of a practice that I have where I compulsively record things

because I have a horrible memory, and if I don't record things, I won't know what happened in my own life. So this was actually a recording from a service for a family friend, and the organist, I was just entranced by the organist. I couldn't stop thinking about it. And I did what I always did. I just kind of recorded it just so I could remember.

And I ended up listening to that recording for weeks on end every single day. And it ended up blossoming into something else. And I, you know, talked to family friends about it. And, you know, it ended up being a nice way to really memorialize someone that was important to me. But it really just came out of just wanting to remember and wanting to be in that moment of remembering for as long as I could.

It provides especially what the Reverend is saying there is this amazing, beautiful contrast to this challenging mantra earlier on. And he says, all of my good days outweigh my bad days. There's this unbelievable beauty and hope in it. And the music is very powerful. I wanted to play that organ sound. as well.

Clearly, it's a powerful recording for you. Yeah, there's the recording from the service, and then I ended up playing over with my friends, I'm to really kind of heighten that moment. There's a lot of weird serendipity in my life, and someone had actually shown me this song, another recording of this song, either directly after or right before this,

but that was kind of another sign where I'm like, okay, like the universe is telling me to pay attention to this, this moment, like, I got to really zero in here. Pulling back and just sort of thinking about the arc of this work, we started with these very disjointed, sort of confusing sounds, this prompt about change, a song about trying to find a way, given hope through death. And the project, when we listen just to the lyrics, can sometimes seem very heavy, you say that your late mother was really good at finding joy and a bright side.

And one of the things I hear in this record is a lot of joy and bright side in these interlude moments. You just describe the structure of these interludes? Yeah, I mean, the interludes happen as they were recorded for the most part. There is some manipulation, but I try to really weave together

some of the heavier moments and some of the lighter moments and you don't really know what to expect and then you're in them and you're like, okay, I guess we're laughing now, and then okay, I guess we're crying now. Which, I don't know, life is like that. Right? Sometimes you don't really know what's about to happen,

and then you're just there. I want to dance in a crowd. Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. In between each song, there are these really wonderful, very two moments from your life that I'm sure have, again, very specific meaning that it's about you reconnecting to your memory, but as a listener, it definitely does have a constant sort of resetting kind of experience. And I have to say, by the way,

This song needs to be remixed. It's like a golden house jam in that little lyric right there. I totally agree. That's the plan. I hope, long-term plan. I just want to play one of my other favorite interludes that takes us between songs before we hear some other tracks. It almost sounds like you're practicing piano here.

In one sense, it feels like we're traveling down into Oz is going to be introduced into another song. But I really enjoy this experience of like, I just feel like I am transferred into your. studio via a tape machine that's a little bit broken, you trying out a little scale, being like, I don't know, let me do it here, let me put it in this other octave. I mean, that's what's happening. That's exactly right.

It's pretty raw, though, to just be like, I'm just going to show the process of the messiness of the thing that's going on in between the compositions. Yeah, I don't know. That's kind of how I approach my music sometimes where, you know, the demos are pretty raw, but I feel a connection to it. I feel like there's an idea there and I want to pursue it. And I was, I don't know, it just felt like the right thing to do. Maria, you have a podcast now and you need to start acting like it.

What's the first step as a podcaster? Well, you have to ask lots of questions. I'm Maria Sharpova and I'm hosting a new podcast called Pretty Tough. Every week, I'm sitting down with trailblazing women at the top of their game to discuss ambition, work ethic, and the ups and downs that come on the path to achieving greatness. I have a few pretty tough questions for you. Okay. Ready? Ready.

Do not sugarcoat something for me. No. No. We'll dive into their stories and get valuable insights from top executives, actors, entrepreneurs, and other individuals who have inspired me so much in my own journey. Pretty tough is your front row seat to the women who have demonstrated the power in being unapologetic in their pursuits. I hope you'll join us. New episodes drop Wednesdays on YouTube or in your favorite podcast app. Following the opening of this record and these interludes,

there's this trio of songs in the right smack in the middle that are really disorienting to me. Like, musically, they feel dizzy. If the song blame me, guitar is like almost drunk. The song, suck teeth. The synthesizer feels like it's almost going out of tune. It is.

We have the song, Kill Self. The sounds are disorienting. Like the first time I went through this record, I'm like, ooh-hoo. As I said, it's sort of the opposite of pop song, which is just like, oh, the most pleasing intunes synthesizer, you hit the key and it just works. What is it about choosing these kinds of sounds that helps you evoke the message

that you're trying to get across with personal change in this record? There's something about a feeling of wooziness that just feels, right? Like, there's so many levels of pitch modulation on all of those tracks, like levels on what, like each individual track, and then the whole track at least once, maybe a couple times. I don't know, something about the non-directness of the relationship between the pitches.

I feel like that kind of mirrors my interest in eligibility in some way or my interest in evading direct relationships between things. I don't know. I just, I always go. for pitch modulation, no matter what. There's ways in which this project is very clear in the statements it's trying to make. One really beautiful thing is that if you take all the song titles, they form a poem, the message of change is pretty pronounced at the very beginning.

And when we come back to the end, it's going to sort of wrap back altogether. But you say that there's ways in which you kind of are trying to escape meaning. What's the purpose of choosing this sort of. formlessness and wooziness? Well, I think it's important for people to be able to sort of insert themselves into the music. Like it is first and foremost for me, but I'm not like, not narcissistic. I also want people, I want to connect with people. I want people to be able to see themselves in it.

So I like to leave some openings for that. Also, a certain degree of eligibility is important for me just because I don't want everybody to know everything about my life. Like, I'm putting a lot out there, but also I need something for myself. It feels important to me also just as a black woman, a musician, to set on my own terms how my music is being looked at, to not, like, fit neatly into any one box. You really kind of have to spend some time with it

and look at the details to really understand what's going on. So really all of those things all at once. I feel like I'd hear some of that. And if we go back to that beat from Find It, I just want to play that again for a second, because I think it accomplishes what you're talking about very effectively. Like, we just hear this, you got nothing. And then there's repetition, and then your voice.

And so kind of like from nothing, we get something. Or from like a lot of abstraction, we get something. Yeah. In the band, we all argue about where the one is. My one is not where anyone else's one is. I'll tell you that. I find it very rare for there to be a record that has, sounds that are disorienting and uncomfortable, but also inviting. And there's this healthy

tension here. I mean, that's literally the goal. That's my hope. That's what I set out to do. We're not like, I feel like listeners are in various art forms. Like, people are really quick to say, I don't like that song. This song's just bad. There's like gut reaction. Whereas like, you know, maybe like a film which is challenging, people are like, because of dominantly visual culture, will be like, okay, well, it was trying to do this thing or like willing to sort of play with it. And so I think it's always a challenging thing as a musician to acknowledge,

I'm going to play you something that is like, add a tune intentionally and might make you feel a little bit sick because that is like the process of change. It's like also change is uncomfortable. But moving beyond the sounds, which are uncomfortable, I want to listen to my favorite song on the record, which is Two-Face.

So because your band can't agree on where the one is, and there's a lot happening in this track. Do you just want to share what are you singing right here? In that part, what am I singing? I can't build, no new nothing, no new life, no new nothing for me. I've gotten all, this is like a test of like, how well do I know my own lyrics? This is not fair because we've all been trapped at home for a minute.

You have performed it out once. Maybe this means I need to practice. I've gotten all of my bricks aligned but mortars. escaping me. I can't build no new nothing, no new life, no new nothing from me. I've gotten all of my bricks aligned, but mortars escaping me. It seems like there's this real contrast between the music, which feels really joyous, and the lyric, which is like still trying to struggle with change and be like, I got all the

bricks. I don't know where to put them. Totally. I'm glad you picked up on that. That's kind of the whole crux of the song, is that dual. that confusing juxtaposition between something that is supposed to be sunny and bright and the lyrics that aren't.

And then the other section is a little bit more hopeful, but it sounds kind of spooky. And that's kind of the crux of the whole idea of the song is that. I'm glad you picked up on that. I like it how it plays out in the music as well. I'm hearing nods to sort of Afro-Latin jazz styles of percussion and especially in your bass playing. And there's ways in which that style of music is,

truly avoiding the home beat. These different instruments are like all of your different bricks, and they're not necessarily fitting exactly together because in this style of music, the bass is usually anticipating the downbeat, the drums are everywhere. Like, usually there's a cowbell, which is there to help you, but there's no cowbell.

Yeah, there's no guide. Good luck. We're without a map, which is strange because when we come to the end of the record, Take 2 is the song. I feel like we've gone on a real journey from opening in a place of real disorientation. Right. We got sirens, air horns, sudden silences to this big question about change,

these disorienting songs that are out of pitch with a two-face. We're approaching some of the joy that you suggest in the, sample that you used. And then we get to take two at the end. Everything is completely slowed down. Things are much more consonant, but I'm not sure we're getting any answers. It's a very beautiful moment.

It took me a number of lessons to pull out this. There's one phrase that takes a minute to come out. I don't mean to put you on the spot again and quiz you, but do you want to share this one? I can do it if you mean. Yeah, I am not prepared for what is going to have. happened to me. Lately, I've been dreaming with eyes open waiting for something.

Yeah. And what we just heard that first minute was just, I'm not prepared for what is going to happen to me. It takes a while. It feels we're left unsettled. Like, if we're asking this question, like, how are you going to change? And we end with, I don't know what's going to happen to me. What's going on?

Where have we gone throughout this album? What does it say about change for you? Yeah, it's funny because that's kind of like the most. most sincere, straightforward part of the record, as you were saying. It's actually a re-envisioned version of Bat from my first record. And the way that we play things live is usually very different from the records. And we like to just kind of like, I don't know, I don't care about the records when we're playing live. It's a totally different ballgame.

So we wanted to do something really special. And so it ended up being much like take two. And we were touring with that and playing. playing it that way. When I was recording this last record, we decided to record it. So I don't know, there's something about it that feels very just earnest

and straightforward, even though the lyrics are suggesting something else. But yeah, I don't know. The thing is, when you make a record about changing, you got to still do the work to change. It's like the record and the thinking about it. Like, this is just sort of me doing research and thinking out loud,

but like the work is still happening. I'm still figuring out what I'm doing and how I relate to people. So I guess, yeah, that's kind of where I am maybe. Pasha, it's been such a pleasure speaking with you. Thank you so much. Thank you for going deep into this very personal album and sharing everything with us.

Can we all just say thank you to Daja? Thank you so much. Switch to Unpop is produced by Nate Sloan, Megan Lumen, and me, Charlie Harding. We're edited by Julia Myers, engineered by Brandon McFefee. Barland, social media by Abdubar, illustrations by Arras Gottlieb and our executive producers are Nishak Karwa and Honor Rosen. Remember the Vox Media Podcast Network and a production of Vulture.

I want to say thanks to JBL and the folks at Vox who helped make this live episode happen. Kathleen, JJ, Ode, Courtney, David, Paulina, Shrinivoss, Art, Jalani, and so many others. We couldn't have done this without your support, and we want to do more live shows in the future for sure. You can catch us at Switched on Pop on social media, on Twitter and Instagram. Love getting your feedback there. And we'll be back next Tuesday with a new episode featuring the artist Yola breaking down one of her favorite songs that she thinks is a modern classic Childish Gambino's Redbone. Check it out. We'll see you next Tuesday. And until then,

thanks for listening.