Review
Review
Raye plays an extraordinary headline set at All Points East
The singer-songwriter took to the East Stage with a mesmerising blend of genres and moods
It’s not a lot of artists that could have a field of London twenty-somethings riveted by a saxophone solo. A lot of credit goes to Raye’s phenomenal band, of course, but the majority lies at the feet of the singer herself. Raye is an artist who likes to take her crowd on a journey, and one who knows exactly what to say and do to keep them on side every step of the way. In her hour and a half headline set, she bounces us between 60s jazz, throwback house and tear-jerking ballads, and there’s no whiplash about it. She’s a woman entirely in control. It’s a gig that reminds you just how magical live music can be with the right person at the helm.
Most are familiar with Raye’s story by now. It’s not an uncommon one – she was a preternaturally gifted young performer who spent years languishing at a major label, unable to release the music she believed in. Like many before her, she turned to independent music. Unlike many before her, this gamble on herself made her one of the biggest artists in the country. She still holds her struggle close, emotional before she even makes it through opener ‘Oscar Winning Tears’. Vocalist that she is, her high notes don’t waver.
It’s an emotional evening all round. Raye knows how to bring the party, and the ‘nightclub’ portion of her set, as she calls it, doesn’t disappoint, flashing back to her feature days with tracks like ‘You Don’t Know Me’ and ‘Secrets’. This doesn’t mean she holds back on the heartbreakers though – she’s audibly emotional (but still vocally untouchable) through ‘Ice Cream Man’, an account of sexual assault and abuse of power in the music industry. She dedicates new track ‘I Know You’re Hurting’ to a fan she frequently chats with in her Instagram DMs. “I know you’re out there,” she tells them. “I love you so much. Never ever ever ever ever ever give up.”
All this, and she still has time to share with the crowd her love of jazz. When she announces her intention to sing a cover of a song most people in Victoria Park – including herself – weren’t alive to remember the release of, she asks those over the age of 60 to raise their hands. In doing this, she meets a 69-year-old called Ray (“Of course,” says Raye, to both these facts) and tells him she intends to sing one of her favourite ever songs, before launching into a cover of James Brown’s ‘It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World’ that must be one of the most vocally astonishing things most of us have ever heard. Raye has a very rare ability to drag her soul out through her throat and make it sound both painfully raw and musically astonishing. “I plan to be doing this til I’m 75 – til I’m older than you, Ray!” she tells her new friend. Here’s hoping.
