ʻUkulele virtuoso Taimane has been busy the past few years performing across the world and making appearances on shows like NPR’s “Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!”
Now she’s back with her latest album release titled “Liʻulā,” which means twilight or early dawn. It’s the first album she’s released since 2022.
She recently performed at HPR’s Atherton Performing Arts Studio to preview the album then joined The Conversation to talk about its release.
The ephemeral time of day that the album was named after makes it the perfect companion for the fall season, she told HPR.
“It's that special time where day is kind of blending into night, and things kind of blur. I like to think of it as like the veil kind of goes thin,” she said. “This album is really perfect for the spooky season because it really delves into the magic of twilight going into night.”
The aura and legend of creatures of the night are what inspired the sound of each piece.
“It's almost like mood music,” she explained. “When I think of sirens, a melody will come to head, or night marchers.”
The album will be celebrated with a release show at Hawaii Theatre on Oct. 22. More information can be found here.
This story aired on The Conversation on Oct. 14, 2026. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. Jinwook Lee adapted this story for the web.
