Music
Review
RAYE: THIS MUSIC MAY CONTAIN HOPE. track by track
A closer look at the whopping 17 tracks that make up the star's awaited second studio album
South London singer and now global megastar RAYE realised her full independence with 2023’s My 21st Century Blues and has gone her own way ever since. Today, she releases her second studio album, THIS MUSIC MAY CONTAIN HOPE. which, through its four conceptual chapters and 17 tracks, sees the singer continue to revel and thrive in her own creative independence.
Backed by gospel singers, a big band and the London Symphony Orchestra, THIS MUSIC MAY CONTAIN HOPE. is a huge feat that explores the timeless themes of heartbreak and, more importantly, hope. Let’s get stuck in, shall we?
‘Intro: Girl Under The Grey Cloud.’
“Our story begins at 2.27 AM on a rainy night in Paris,” announces RAYE as both the narrator and subject of her tale – a young women seven negronis deep, roaming the streets of the City of Love under the grey clouds of autumn. A voice note from her grandma pulls her back home and the album begins!
‘I Will Overcome.’
A sleek and dramatic opener that might as well be pitching the singer for the next James Bond theme song, so easy is it to imagine silhouetted bodies doing acrobatics on the barrel of a Walther PPK. The orchestration is remarkable, from the chic strings that recall Paris to the all encompassing outro, that, despite a quick reassurance that the protagonist will overcome the wall between hope and despair, sounds epic and menacing.
‘Beware.. South London Lover Boy.’
RAYE goes all David Attenborough here as she begins her lecture on the “strange creature” of the South London Lover Boy, who’ll “Lime bike to your doorstep, spliff hanging from his lips”. There’s a couple of ‘Thriller’-esque sound effects that suggest the dark mood continues, before energetic drum hits and a choir drop us into a modern Motown bop. The melody of the chorus seems to subtly foreshadow that of the album’s biggest hit, but more on that later.
‘The Whatsapp Shakespeare.’
Now the lens zooms in to a particularly poetic form of South London Lover Boy, one whose deceptive declarations of love are not scribed on parchment but on Whatsapp. Full of Shakespearean references, this peppy track keeps you on your toes, jumping between bouncy modern sounds with rhythmic triplets to a old-time swing number as she warns the listener to run.
‘Winter Woman.’
Autumn becomes winter and the calloused bravado from before has gone, leaving RAYE more exposed and vulnerable, her heartbreak tempting her to embrace an icy heart. The track feels a lot more modern than what we’ve heard so far, almost reminiscent of The Weeknd in its production, until a screeching violin playing that arresting passage from Vivaldi’s ‘Winter’ appears – a nod to the singer’s own take on the Four Seasons theme.
‘Click Clack Symphony. (feat Hans Zimmer)’
The percussive click clack sound that gives this track its name represents the power behind the sound of high heels. “It’s about those times in our life when you need your best friends or your siblings to drag you out of the house and say ‘I know you’re not in the best place right now but we need to get outside,’” RAYE has said. In this case, calling the girls helps fend of some existential spiralling, made all the more dramatic thanks to Hans Zimmer‘s swelling orchestration.
‘I know You’re Hurting.’
With so much going on in the arrangements so far, the first few minutes of ‘I Know You’re Hurting.’ feel especially welcome. Even when the full band kicks in – sounding particularly live, as if you’re experiencing it at a festival – it simply elevates the oomph behind RAYE’s vocals. It feels like the first shoots of hope that the album’s title promises are starting to emerge.
‘Life Boat.’
There’s a big Fred Again.. influence on this one, with an array of voices repeating the mantra “I’m not giving up yet” above an emotive, goosebump-inducing dance track.
‘I Hate The Way I Look Today.’
The dark shadows and lazer lighting of a 21st century club dissipate and we’re back in a golden, smoky jazz club for this 12-bar-blues number. While the lyrics might centre around self-consciousness (“It’s giving trainwreck”), the music itself makes you want to put on your glad rags, drink something with an olive in it and dance away until the early hours.
‘Goodbye Henry. (feat Al Green)’
This buttery smooth tune featuring soul statesman Al Green is both woozy like Christmas and giddy like summer. Shall we settle on spring? Perhaps things really are looking up…
‘Nightingale Lane.’
Hold your horses, there. “This is a song about the greatest heartbreak I have ever known,” RAYE tells us outright as this soulful ballad plays out with the bittersweet and theatrical catharsis the singer has made her own. Lyrically, it’s perhaps her most direct and candid song that relives the breakup and painful memories around it that’ve sunk into the concrete of this South London road.
‘Skin & Bones.’
There’s a touch of the ‘Lady Marmalade’ swagger to the soulful funk of ‘Skin & Bones.’, that kick drum and bass unrelenting with regular blows and a breakbeat towards the ends that opens up the floor to several vocal lines. It feels like this track is something of warm up for the vocal gymnastics needed for what’s coming next…
‘WHERE IS MY HUSBAND!’
It’s some move debuting your new song on Glastonbury’s Pyramid Stage, but when it’s as infectious and extra as this big band banger?! Fair play. For all of its catchiness, this song has got to be a boss level karaoke tune, with such vocal dexterity does RAYE deliver each jam packed line and cascading melody. This omnipresent hit is well on its way to a billion streams.
‘Fields.’ (feat Grandad Michael)
A touching dialogue between RAYE and her grandad Michael with the kind of calming relief such a moment deserves. As a gospel prepares to take the song to its liberating conclusion, the singer promises to keep her gramp’s own songs burning for the rest of her life.
‘Joy.’ (feat. Amma & Absolutely)’
As the album reaches its final moments, RAYE partners with her sisters Amma (Lauren) and Absolutely (Abby-Lynn) to powerful emotional effect for the most upbeat song on the record. It’s a dance song but delivered with an earthly, analogue feel.
‘Happier Times Ahead.’
We started with a girl alone in Paris in the opening and we now find her again, this time swapping the bitterness of negronis for a sugar-sweet coffee, learning how to live with and eventually move on from the heartbreak that still holds her. She looks out of the window and reflects on all the others out there sharing the same sentiment, holding on to the promise that happier times lie ahead, as RAYE makes us repeat it ourselves.
‘Fin.’
The closing moments of My 21st Century Blues saw the singer condense her most essential thank yous into 30 seconds. Not this time, as she reels of everyone deserving of a credit into a six and a half minutes.
THIS MUSIC MAY CONTAIN HOPE. is out now via Human Re Sources.
