T. Liem's Music Recommendation

T. Liem's Music Recommendation:

I drafted “The Middle of No Where is Somewhere” in the car between Alberta and Quebec this summer. Mostly I don’t like being in cars, but I take enormous comfort in putting on music that I can sing along with while driving. Okay Kaya’s album “Watch This Liquid Pour Itself” has steadiness you can sway to. The lyrics live in a kind of subdued silly place while capturing an experience with mental illness. I appreciate this kind of play for the relief it gives to express something serious, dark, and difficult while also making space to dance. I love the timbre of her voice and how she laughs after saying “please give a warm welcome to this current mood.” It's dream pop from a self-described "Singer-crywanker / Jerk tearer / Maker of Smut."  

(The closing quotation is from the artist's about section on spotify.) 

T. Liem is the author of OBITS. (2018). Her writing has been published in Apogee, Plenitude, Room, The Boston Review, Grain, Best Canadian Poetry 2018 and 2019, and elsewhere. She lives in Tio’Tia:ke / Montreal, unceded Kanien’kehá:ka territories. T. Liem's poetry, including “The Middle of No Where is Somewhere”, is featured in the BIPOC Solidarities issue of The Fiddlehead. Order your copy today!