The first two albums from
Taja Cheek
's
L'Rain
project were endlessly inventive, dreamlike efforts that delved into subjects relating to loss, grief, change, and identity. Third record
I Killed Your Dog
is themed around love, but not in the most typical ways one would expect. Specifically, it's designed as an "anti-breakup" album, reflecting on the heartbreak of being hurt by loved ones and the endings of close friendships and relationships. The intentionally confrontational title provokes the listener to ask why someone would do such a horrible thing, and the fact that the title song is a confessional but not exactly apologetic ambient lullaby only adds to the confusion. Other songs like "I Hate My Best Friends" and "Uncertainty Principle" are riddled with contradictions, both in the lyrics and the arrangements (the latter has soft, smooth vocals but ends in a noise rock freak-out). The wavy, hazy "Our Funeral" describes how crushing loneliness makes an impending breakup feel apocalyptic. "Pet Rock" follows the trail of the more accessible selections from
Fatigue
, starting out with a
Strokes
-inspired guitar melody before blooming into something more psychedelic. The song addresses
Cheek
's relationship to rock music as a Black musician, and how she doesn't share many of the same classic rock reference points as other people. "5 to 8 Hours a Day (WWwaG)" is a lush folk-pop tune about the woes of studying, with subtle drums percolating in the background during a lengthy spoken word section. Synth sequences flutter throughout "Knead Bee," a fully developed version of the previous album's scratchy, minute-long "Need Be." Like
,
is connected by numerous fragments, interludes, and brief messages, often of a humorous nature, like "What's That Song?" in which a full band accompanies someone trying to identify the melody of a jazz tune. The album concludes with "New Year's UnResolution," a reflection on various stages of a relationship set to an aquatic dance rhythm. Every bit as creative and trippy as
's first two albums,
has some of the artist's most relatable lyrics, and cuts closer to the bone. ~ Paul Simpson