The singer/songwriter plays songs like fleeting daydreams.
What would Beck sound like without the existential nihilism that pervades his superficially laid-back songs? Maybe like the New York artist Rahill, formerly part of the garage band Habibi. But that doesn’t mean that their sunny and warm songs don’t have any depth. Rather, she exchanges nihilism for a tender melancholy.
No wonder: on her first solo album, the daughter of Iranian immigrants to the USA deals with loss, family, Iranian culture and acceptance – it’s not for nothing that the album begins with the collage-like “healing”. Rahill’s poetic narratives are accompanied by a sound that cites lo-fi heroes like Beck (with whom she collaborates on the single “Fables”) as well as trip-hop, while always retaining pop appeal.
Her voice hypnotizes you on songs like “Futbol” or “Naila”, then again songs sound like a fleeting daydream (“Bended Light”, “Libra”). The undisputed highlight is the jazzy, sadly beautiful “I Smile For E”, a song for her deceased aunt Elaheh.