L'Rain (album)

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L'Rain
Studio album by
L'Rain
ReleasedSeptember 15, 2017
GenreExperimental music
LabelAstro Nautico
Producer
L'Rain chronology
L'Rain
(2017) 		Fatigue
(2021)

L'Rain is the self-titled debut studio album by experimental musician Taja Cheek, who performs as L'Rain.[1][2] The album was released in 2017 by New York City-based label Astro Nautico[3][4] and included in best-of-year lists by publications including Pitchfork[5] and Bandcamp Daily.[6] The album cover is an image of Cheek's forearm, which is tattooed "L'Rain"; she chose the name after her mother, Lorraine, died during the making of the record.[2]

L'Rain features Andrew Lappin on guitars, Alex Goldberg on drums and percussion, Jeremy Powell on saxophone, and TV on the Radio's Kyp Malone on backing vocals.[7] Cheek composed and performs vocals, keyboards, synthesizers, guitar, bass, samples, and percussion on the album,[8] which she co-produced with Lappin.[7]

Musical style[]

L'Rain has been recognized as an experimental album drawing on many traditions and genres;[5][1] reviewers have identified the work's style and influences as including free jazz, ambient, noise music, and disco;[3] R&B, post-punk, and avant-garde rock;[1] shoegaze, psychedelic, hip hop, and outsider music;[7] jazz, electronic music, and dream pop;[8] soul and folk;[6] and more.

L'Rain often layers and loops her vocals, and her work frequently features samples from her collection of hundreds of field recordings, some pitch-shifted or otherwise manipulated beyond recognition.[2] She has spoken in interviews about her work's tendency to evade[2] or reject[1] categorization, and in an interview following the debut's release said, "I would hope that people would find elements of gospel, 90s r&b, and different genres of 'experimental music' (for lack of a better term) in my music, but I generally try to remain as illegible as possible. There is power in remaining indiscernible. I like to exist in a liminal space."[9]

Critical reception[]

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Pitchfork6.8/10[3]

Jay Balfour for Pitchfork assessed L'Rain with general positivity, calling it "a beautiful, untidy conduit of [Cheek's] grieving."[3]

Year-end lists[]

Publication List Rank
Pitchfork The 20 Best Experimental Albums of 2017 #17[5]
Bandcamp Daily The Best Albums of 2017 #10[6]

Track listing[]

All songs by L'Rain.

No.TitleLength
1."Heavy (But Not in Wait)"4:53
2."Stay, Go (Go, Stay)"4:42
3."Bat"2:22
4."Alive and a Wake"2:28
5.Untitled0:36
6."A Toes (Shelf Inside Your Head)"3:03
7."Go, Stay (Stay, Go)"1:00
8."July 14th, 2015"0:23
9."Which Fork / I'll Be"6:58

Personnel[]

Adapted from the record's Bandcamp page.[10]

L'Rain

  • Taja Cheek - vocals, bass guitar, electric guitar, percussion, samples, synths

Additional musicians

  • Alex Goldberg - drums, percussion
  • Andrew Lappin - acoustic guitar, electric guitar, nylon guitar, percussion, programming
  • Jeremy Powell - saxophone
  • Kyp Malone - background vocals

Technical

  • Taja Cheek - production
  • Jake Aron - mixing
  • Chris Connors - additional mixing, vocal editing
  • Chris Gehringer - mastering
  • Andrew Lappin - engineering, mixing, production
  • Sam Obey - A&R, remix mastering, sequencing

Artwork and design

  • Jed Moch - album artwork
  • Carlos Reyes - album artwork

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b c d Fraden, Angel E. (February 26, 2018). "Meet L'Rain, the Mystic Multi-Instrumentalist and Vocalist Whose Intimate Music Will Mesmerize You". Teen Vogue. Retrieved July 16, 2021.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b c d Pareles, Jon (June 24, 2021). "L'Rain's Songs Hold Ghosts, Demons and Healing". The New York Times. Retrieved July 16, 2021.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b c d Balfour, Jay (September 28, 2017). "L'Rain: L'Rain". Pitchfork. Retrieved July 16, 2021.
  4. ^ Kuhn, Bennett. "Labeled: Astro Nautico". Impose Magazine. Retrieved July 16, 2021.
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b c Geffen, Sasha (December 15, 2017). "The 20 Best Experimental Albums of 2017". Pitchfork. Retrieved July 16, 2021.
  6. ^ Jump up to: a b c "The Best Albums of 2017: #20 – 1". Bandcamp Daily. December 15, 2017. Retrieved July 16, 2021.
  7. ^ Jump up to: a b c Schube, Will (September 8, 2017). "L'Rain's Debut Album Is A Rollercoaster Ride of Soul, Shoegaze, and Dance". Bandcamp. Retrieved July 16, 2021.
  8. ^ Jump up to: a b Berlatsky, Noah (September 4, 2017). "Music on the Horizon". Splice Today. Retrieved July 16, 2021.
  9. ^ Bourgeois, Jasmine (November 2018). "In Conversation with L'Rain". Tom Tom Magazine. Retrieved July 16, 2021.
  10. ^ "L'Rain (Deluxe Edition)". Bandcamp. Retrieved July 9, 2021.
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