Taraneh appears in our Summer 2024 Issue with cover stars Wallows, Drain, Maya Hawke, the Linda Lindas, and Winnetka Bowling League. Head to the AP Shop to grab a copy.
Iranian-American artist Taraneh has developed quite a reputation around New York City. And with a shock of Day-Glo pink hair that would make Tish and Snooky proud, and a head-turning belt that at once recalls Courtney Love in the early days of Hole — it’s hard not to join the fanclub. Living up to her name, which in Farsi means “melody,” the singer-songwriter, instrumentalist, and producer has released four albums, the most recent of which is titled New Age Prayer. Taraneh’s sound has proven to be an enticing enigma — and not entirely for any ultramodern sonics, bells, or whistles. Taraneh delivers the rarity of real rock — refreshing, rough, wily — at times echoing the seductive side of Blondie, at others the brashness of Babes in Toyland, though it’s always very much her own at heart.
Read more: In conversation with the Linda Lindas and Hole’s Patty Schemel
On New Age Prayer, we hear Taraneh adjusting her sails and exploring the concept of transcendence — with a softened, more fluid sound and vulnerable lyricism. Where rock might be home base, the album drifts into disco, dream pop, and dark wave with technical prowess, and artful, unexpected arrangements. According to the artist herself, it is, all in all, “an incantation of organized chaos, a trance-like meditation” — and a true prayer for the new age.
YOUR FIRST EXPOSURE TO MUSIC
Growing up, my dad would always whistle a rotation of the same few songs in the car instead of playing the radio. My first exposure to music was probably him whistling Vivaldi’s “Concerto No. 1” in D major. That or my friend’s mom playing Eminem’s The Slim Shady LP.
GOING BY YOUR FARSI NAME
I was named based on a dream that my father had a few days before I was born. Taraneh means melody in Farsi, so it feels a bit prophetic with me being a musician. Using it as my artist name felt like a golden opportunity, one I didn’t want to waste.
ADVICE FOR YOUR TUMBLR-ERA SELF
You have nothing but time, and you’re just getting started. Also, delete the thinspo folder.
YOUR INTENTIONS WITH NEW AGE PRAYER
New Age Prayer is a multi-genre exploration of themes of power and control. It’s about working with the universe and calling in what I or you or we want to see. It’s the first record where I’m intentionally calling in what I want into my life lyrically, taking it beyond the retrospective imagery I’ve focused on in the past. I wanted to create something novel in the sound and energy of the record — not only something novel for myself but also in the broader sense. The songs jump and swell, moving abruptly from varying blends of grunge and electronic to dream pop and shoegaze, and that’s intentional. Those are the mood swings and trials and tribulations that lead us to craft our own prayers, our own invocations for the new age. I feel a shift coming, and with this record, I’m welcoming it with open arms.
YOUR IDOL GROWING UP VS. YOUR IDOL NOW
Probably the closest thing I had to an idol growing up was Julian Assange. He’s a Cancer like me, which is cool. I’d say the closest thing to an idol I have now would be the Persian mystic Rumi or his teacher, Shams Tabrizi. They were revolutionaries and vessels of God. I fuck with that.
INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM TO PUNK ROCK
I’d say they’re pretty similar disciplines, honestly. They’re both about getting to the bottom of things for me. I’ve been making music since I was 13 but didn’t pursue it as my main practice until relatively recently. Until about a year-and-a-half ago, I was a full-time investigative journalist working first for NBC News and later for USA Today. I started playing my first shows around October 2022, and in early 2023, I was reaching a point in my career where it would be music or journalism. I got on my hands and knees and asked the universe to guide me, to illuminate the path I was and am to take and within 10 minutes received a rejection letter from a big job I had applied for. That was the sign I asked for. I’ve been playing music full time ever since, and it’s been pretty sick.
THE NYC DIY SCENE
I think my friends and I are really creating something new together. It feels like in some ways all eyes are on New York right now, and I think that’s for good reason — there’s something really special happening in NYC right now. I can feel it in the air, and I’m really grateful to be part of it. I’m in a community with a lot of people I not only love but also admire, and that’s a real privilege.
YOUR RELATIONSHIP TO SPIRITUALITY
I was raised in a very spiritual tradition of Islam. My parents, much like many Iranians who fled authoritarian theocracy, abandoned dogma for the most part in their practice of Islam. I never considered myself religious until a few years ago, not as a Muslim necessarily, although I was raised in the faith but in my own very personal form of religion. I’m very religious and spiritual in my own way, in a way that shapes and influences everything I do, from the words I speak to the music I write to the way I live my life.
THE NEW AGE PRAYER AESTHETIC
Surrogate of God. Master of destiny. Nina Hagen meets Aleister Crowley meets Clara Rockmore or something like that.
YOUR RITUALS
I’m a person of rituals — I always have been. I pray to God and the universe and my future self every night. I talk to myself in the mirror before every show I play. I tell myself the things I’d tell 13-year-old Taraneh. I cleanse myself and my space and my friends with Esfand every week — an ancient Zoroastrian wild rue that’s burned in Iran to dispel evil eye. I wear protective jewelry and knock on wood and talk to myself. I love my rituals, and I like to believe they love me too.
Hair by Matia Emsellem
Makeup by Robin Stright using MAC Cosmetics
