TaughtMe Released New Single “In The Body”

“In The Body” is a song from “Laugh On Me,” the first album in ten years by American composer, producer, and sound designer Blake Aaron Henderson, better known as TaughtMe.

“Laugh On Me” will be released on vinyl and all digital platforms on October 6, 2023. The album features Alabaster DePlume, Úlfur Hansson, Samuli Kosminen and Gýða Valtýsdóttir from Múm, Tom Monger from Florence and The Machine, Piero Perelli, and more.

“In The Body” is a plea or prayer spoken directly to the body. Like many of us I struggle to be present in my life, to stay in my senses. There are so many ways and reasons to check out, to go numb. In the song I beg my body to pull me along, to keep me awake and engaged. I tried to express a deep urgency and a powerful longing. Life is so short! I want to feel as much of it as possible but I often go dim. Maybe I have my reasons. I was raised in a devout mormon home where I was taught to distrust my own sexuality, taught that masturbation was a grave sin that offended god—as if the body is something to defend against. There’s another layer too. I’ve recently been diagnosed with Ankylosing Spondylitis, an auto-immune disease that causes mysterious pain and terrible stiffness. My body is attacking itself. It’s sometimes difficult to trust my own organism, to release into it. I want be alive during my one brief chance. I want to lengthen this time by feeling more of it. But It’s not easy. I usually fail. I’m trying.

“In The Body” began as a birthday present for my girlfriend. My wallet empty and her birthday fast approaching, I decided to gift her a melody. I made the voice memo while wandering San Francisco. For many years I tweaked and iterated the song but it never felt quite right. Eventually it found its true form when Úlfur Hansson “subverted” it, finding a new direction altogether. I fidgeted while he dismantled all of my work—but it was good discomfort and I came to see that he was right. The song opened up! We worked to create contrast between the acoustic—more earthy—verses and the expansive choruses with their layers of astral synths. Everything locked into place once Samuli Kosminen—working remotely from Finland—added his dense percussion and explosive sound-design. – Blake Aaron Henderson