Only RAYE could create a swing jazz song called “I Hate The Way I Look Today” that would make me get up and dance rather than focus on my appearance.
RAYE has graced our ears with her maximalistic sophomore album titled “THIS MUSIC MAY CONTAIN HOPE.”
This South London born singer and songwriter has persevered through many challenging years in the music industry to deliver a standout second album that makes me question why her old record label kept her such a hidden secret.
After being signed to Polydor records as a songwriter for more than five years, she left the label due to them believing she wasn’t “ready enough” to release an album.
“I was at a point where I had nothing left to lose.” RAYE said in an interview.. She broke free from the shackles of her label and was ready to be known for more than just a ghostwriter which led her to her first album and now her second.
It has been three years since her debut album “My 21st Century Blues” and two years since her record-breaking night at the BRIT awards, where she won six awards out of her seven nominations. Ever since her biggest fans have been wondering what was next?
“THIS MUSIC MAY CONTAIN HOPE” follows RAYE through her journey of romantic complications and the strain it took on her mental health.
It is a 73-minute body of work that feels like a movie in album form. She collaborates with composer Hans Zimmer on the 6th track of the album “Click-Clack Symphony”, which is a song about the sound heels make when they touch the floor.
It’s not every day you collaborate with a composer who you may know from his soundtracks in movies like, “Interstellar” and “The Lion King.” She also collaborated with the London Symphonic Orchestra to help bring her vision to life.
This lavish album is filled with beautifully executed orchestrations that are ineffable. She channels her inner Aretha Franklin with her tracks “Nightingale Lane” and “Skin and Bones” and goes back to her EDM roots with the uplifting song “Life Boat.”
I wish I could enter RAYE’s intricate and intense mind. Every aspect of this album feels unique bringing me emotions of hope and “Joy” as told in the 15th song in the album.
Her love for her family is expressed within multiple tracks like “Joy”, which features her two sisters Amma and Absolutely.
This album demands your full attention. It’s RAYE making a statement, she is here and she’s not going anywhere. “I just wanna be free” sings RAYE in the song “Fields”, featuring her grandad.
From soft ballads to neo-soul and gospel, “THIS MUSIC MAY CONTAIN HOPE” smoothly switches genres while making the listener feel as if they are experiencing these emotions with RAYE.
She charms the listeners with a strong and lengthy movement that makes me want more.
A strong contender for album of the year, RAYE has proven that the music industry needs her.