Louder: How Aaron Dessner Found His Voice (With an Assist From Taylor Swift)

August 20, 2021

By Caryn Ganz

Pop Music Editor

One night in 2020, Aaron Dessner was eating dinner when Taylor Swift texted, asking if he’d be interested in collaborating remotely. His work on her pandemic albums “Folklore” and “Evermore” helped usher the pop star into a new era in her career, and himself into a new zone of visibility. Long a self-described “shy” member of the National, he took a leading role on the latest album from Big Red Machine, his project with Justin Vernon of Bon Iver. Jon Pareles headed up to Dessner’s Long Pond Studio for a lovely conversation about the shape of his career and one of his sonic signatures, patterns.

Two other great profiles this week, too: Marcus J. Moore spoke with Livingston Matthews, the genre-hopping musician who records as Pink Siifu and arrived dressed “like his influences all at once: Sly Stone, Andre 3000, Sun Ra.” And Erin Osmon checked in with the country stalwart Connie Smith, now 80 and releasing her first secular album in about a decade, without a younger benefactor (but with the help of her husband, Marty Stuart).

And a very interesting report from Joe Coscarelli and Ben Sisario as the R. Kelly trial gets underway in Brooklyn: What’s the state of his music today? The answer did surprise me!

(And while I’m in that mode, these stories were nice pick-me-ups this week.)

Daniel Dorsa for The New York Times

How Aaron Dessner Found His Voice (With an Assist From Taylor Swift)

The “shy” producer and musician from the long-running indie-rock band the National emerges via his own project with Justin Vernon, Big Red Machine.

By Jon Pareles

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Pink Siifu, a Shape-Shifting Musician With One Demand: Don’t Box Me In

The prolific 29-year-old rapper, singer and producer returned this month with “Gumbo’!,” a hat tip to the soulful Southern rap that inspired him.

By Marcus J. Moore

Kristine Potter for The New York Times

54 Albums Later, Connie Smith’s Defiant Heart Has Plenty to Say

The country artist, 80, is releasing her first secular recording in about a decade. Her husband, Marty Stuart, calls her “the ultimate outlaw” for doing things her way.

By Erin Osmon

THE CRITICS

The Playlist

Shawn Mendes and Tainy’s Summer Breeze, and 12 More New Songs

Hear tracks by Circuit des Yeux, Cimafunk and George Clinton, Alice Longyu Gao and others.

By Jon Pareles, Giovanni Russonello and Lindsay Zoldaz

PODCASTS

The Lox, Triumphant at Verzuz

A conversation about New York hip-hop in the 1990s and early 2000s, and a night that brought the spirit of battle back to the pandemic-era staple.

Jay-Z’s ‘Black Album’ Reconsidered

Our culture writer loved this quintessential hip-hop album as a teen. But after the summer of 2020, he started rethinking its message.

By Dodai Stewart, Reggie Ugwu, Tally Abecassis, Elyssa Dudley, Phyllis Fletcher, Theo Balcomb and Elisheba Ittoop

R. KELLY ON TRIAL

Earl Gibson Iii/Getty Images For BET

With R. Kelly on Trial, What Has Become of His Music?

The R&B superstar may have experienced a “social death,” with his music largely disappearing in public. But streaming data tells a more complicated story.

By Joe Coscarelli and Ben Sisario

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Ex-R. Kelly Aide Says Job Was ‘Almost Like the Twilight Zone’

Anthony Navarro said he ferried around the singer’s girlfriends but was not allowed to speak to them, as prosecutors appeared to begin building a racketeering case.

By Troy Closson and Emily Palmer

R. Kelly Knowingly Infected Accusers With Herpes, They Say

Over the first two days of the singer’s trial, Jerhonda Pace testified that Mr. Kelly told her to dress like a girl scout and gave her an S.T.D. at age 16.

By Troy Closson and Emily Palmer

R. Kelly Trial Opens With an Accuser’s Searing Testimony

A woman said Mr. Kelly sexually and physically abused her when she was 16 — the first time one of the R&B star’s several accusers has ever taken the stand in a criminal case.

By Troy Closson and Emily Palmer

NEWS

Jawad Jalali/EPA, via Shutterstock

A Celebrated Afghan School Fears the Taliban Will Stop the Music

The Afghanistan National Institute of Music became a symbol of the country’s changing identity.

By Javier C. Hernández

Kelsey McClellan for The New York Times

‘The Opposite of Airlines’: When Larger Audiences Require Fewer Seats

Yes, the comfy chair. The War Memorial Opera House in San Francisco put in roomier seats just in time to try to lure audiences back from the couches they got used to during the shutdown.

By Adam Nagourney

Garth Brooks Cancels Five Stadium Concerts as Covid-19 Cases Rise

The country star said he hoped to resume his tour by the end of the year, if he could do so safely.

By Ben Sisario

The Academy of Country Music moves its awards show to Amazon, ditching network TV.

It is the first major awards show to follow the audiences to a streaming platform.

By Brooks Barnes

Los Angeles to Require Masks at Large Outdoor Concerts and Events

The order comes as the spread of the Delta variant has driven up caseloads.

By Adam Nagourney

The Charts

Billie Eilish Holds at No. 1, Bolstered Again by Physical Sales

George Harrison’s 1970 triple album “All Things Must Pass” also returns to the Top 10 for the first time in 50 years thanks to a host of reissues.

By Ben Sisario

Lincoln Center Hopes a $20 Million Donation Will Help Fuel a Revival

Eager for a comeback amid the pandemic, the center will distribute the gift to Jazz at Lincoln Center, Lincoln Center Theater, the Metropolitan Opera and New York City Ballet.

By Javier C. Hernández

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Chucky Thompson, Hitmaking Producer, Is Dead at 53

He brought a range of musical influences to bear on the tracks he helped create for Mary J. Blige, the Notorious B.I.G. and many others.

By Neil Genzlinger

Peter Rehberg, a Force in Underground Music, Dies at 53

He released his own experiments with sound under the name Pita, and also ran the influential label Editions Mego.

By Neil Genzlinger

INTERNATIONAL FEATURES

A Mirrored Mecca for K-Pop Moves

An empty building in a Paris business district has become a hub for young dancers to practice and record their routines for social media.

By Dylan Loeb McClain

Jimothy’s Flex Looks a Little Different

The British rapper doesn’t dress or sound like his peers — but that’s just how he likes it.

By Sirin Kale

STYLES

it’s never too late

It’s Never Too Late to Record Your First Album

For a celebrated architecture professor at the University of California, Berkeley, an album of 11 original songs, in a variety of genres, was eight decades in the making.

By Chris Colin

Where Are All the Wedding D.J.s?

After months of couples postponing and paring down their wedding plans, the season of celebrating nuptials is finally in full swing again and D.J.s are in high demand and in short supply.

By Mekita Rivas

The A.S.L. Interpretation of ‘WAP’ Was TikTok Gold. It’s Also a Problem.

A lively American Sign Language interpretation of Megan Thee Stallion’s performance at Lollapalooza flooded social media, reigniting the frustrations of Black deaf content creators.

By Anna P. Kambhampaty