L'Rain – I Killed Your Dog
In conversation with her previous work, I Killed Your Dog explores feelings of thoughtlessness, emotional damage, absent-minded stupidity and more
The senseless act of violence that gives Taja Cheek’s new album its title ripples across its 36 minutes. Could there be any more evil and futile a confrontation? Cheek asks if that same thoughtlessness doesn’t enter our lives in other, less graphic ways: when we perpetrate emotional damage on loved ones, or upon ourselves; or the absent-minded stupidity of calling a Black musician’s art “jazz-influenced” as a reductive signifier.
In conversation with her previous work, I Killed Your Dog explores these feelings, these reactions, in abstract. Following her brilliant 2021 record Fatigue, this latest work feels less brilliantly chaotic, more sumptuous and sensual. It’s littered with impressive results. 5 to 8 Hours a Day (WWwaG) moves from acoustic guitar to a stuttering, careening loop, brass later heralding a spoken word section. Yes, there’s alternating time signatures and an improvisatory atmosphere, but this is more akin to the modern folk of a song like Cassandra Jenkins’ Hard Drive. 'You didn’t think this would come out of me', Cheek retorts at unwary listeners.
The record makes time for sharp skit humour and ends with a dazzling dance-pop groove. Where Cheek smooths down her effervescent ability to discard genre for more conventional psych-rock numbers, it’s not as exciting. But she can even do that better than anyone else.
Listen to: Our Funeral, 5 to 8 Hours a Day (WWwaG), New Year’s UnResolution