Rhiannon Giddens is the guest on the latest episode of Object of Sound with Hanif Abdurraqib. You can hear their conversation, which was recorded as part of the On Air Fest online podcast festival last week, below.

"Lately, I've been thinking about everything that defines home," Abdurraqib says in his introduction. "Where and what is one's home? Is it the place you grew up? The place you find comfort? The place you spend most of your time? The place where you're most fully seen? And for musicians and writers and art makers, what does it mean to have a creative home, or a place that feels rejuvenating and generative to you?"

The questions are ones like those Giddens herself contemplates on her new album, They're Calling Me Home. She and her partner, Italian multi-instrumentalist Francesco Turrisi, recorded the album during the COVID-19 lockdown in Ireland. The two expats found themselves drawn to and comforted by the music of their native and adoptive countries of America, Italy, and Ireland, which they recorded for an album that speaks to the longing for the comfort of home as well as the metaphorical call "home" of death. The Guardian has just named it its Folk Album of the Month in a five-star review, exclaiming: "This is a big, beautiful album, a showcase for direct, punchy emotions and Giddens' vocal versatility."