Another contender for the 2026 1000 Songs list.

L'Rain (not Lorraine, I don't really cover ITV mid-morning TV shows) is the moniker for Taja Cheek, an experimental artist from Brooklyn, New York.

I am a little late to the party as she has been producing music since 2017, following her self-titled debut with acclaimed records like "Fatigue" and "I Killed Your Dog". She use layers of looped vocals, pitch-shifted field recordings, and percussion to achieve her sound, described as a neo-psychedelic and avant-garde.

For 2026 I am considering "Soulless Cycle".

Soulless Cycle by L'Rain

I heard it first on Jamz Supernova's show on 6 Music. I am a big fan of the contrast within a song. It uses a very repetitive, dense guitar and drums breakdown, which achieves a that push-pull, build-crash "wave" sound I like. But it also works well with drifting vocals.

It's a little more experimental than I have leaned into for 1000 Songs. But it's good to hear something like this in 2026.

She has an album out this year "Fata Morgana", via Mexican Summer records. It is the final piece of her ongoing four-album cycle.