“I want to sink my teeth into new spaces”: How TAAHLIAH is evolving her artistry

On 2021’s ‘Angelica’, the Scottish musician dabbled in hyperpop production. The seven-track project served as an ode to herself and, in part, the LGBTQIA+ community. “‘Angelica’ is about my body. ‘Gramarye’ is about my brain,” she reflects, pondering over a question on dualism in her new project. Light and dark, mind over matter, or body and mind – these are notions all swirling through TAAHLIAH’s free-flowing debut album. Her newly remastered sound is distanced from the synthetic, fast-paced beats of previous releases. Instead, she thoughtfully languishes in slow, striking production and lyricism.

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‘Gramarye’ isn’t an entire reinvention, though, TAAHLIAH nostalgically casts references back to her earlier work, creating “secret back doors” in her work. She weaves in sounds from previous projects, such as sampling her 2021 single ‘Brave’ on ‘Hours’. Her aestheticism and innovation, however, do not falter. TAAHLIAH doesn’t create the same work, she experiments in ways you wouldn’t expect from the producer: guitar, unedited vocals and string instruments all feature. On one track – ‘Angel’ – her younger brother endearingly vocalises off-beat; on another – album opener ‘Lachrymose’ – she lets the Brooklyn ballroom icon Octavia St. Laurent do the talking, declaring “I am here, and nothing can push me aside.”

The grandeur of ‘Gramarye’ is palpable, it feels like an expansive candyfloss-coloured daydream. The entire album leans on the spirit of Laurent’s words, to be imposing and striking. Its title is intentionally rhythmic, the letters curling around your tongue as you pronounce them. “I wanted a name that would sound like the world that the songs live inside,” TAAHLIAH says. Her delicately curated harmonies, lyrics and melodies all echo through the semi-abrasive phrase. It’s a title that’s supposed to get knotted in your mouth, sitting tough in the back of your throat like a sticky spoonful of room temperature honey.