Hurray for the Riff Raff (aka Alynda Segarra, they/them) reveals profound reflections and personal stories on their new record, The Past Is Still Alive, out now on Nonesuch Records. Produced by Brad Cook (Bon Iver, Kevin Morby, Waxahatchee), and recorded in Durham, NC just a month after the passing of Alynda Segarra’s father, The Past Is Still Alive grapples with time, memory, love and loss – more of an inward-looking album than their previous ones. But just as Louise Erdrich has done of late with Native Americans, Lonnie Holley with African-Americans, and Julie Otsuka with Asian-Americans, Segarra expands the scope of American stories here, stretching a long-safeguarded circle to encompass outsiders forever on the fringes. Song settings range from piñon fires near the pueblos of New Mexico’s high desert, to all-night escapades in New Orleans (one of Segarra’s homes).
Thursday at 8 pm: Hurray For the Riff Raff – The Past is Still Alive
