Although RAYE has been creating music for close to a decade her debut album My 21st Century Blues after her music career was jeopardised by her previous record label.
Her long-awaited debut My 21st Century Blues is a “warm, heartbreak welcome” to the unfiltered, searing integrity embodied within the backdrop of a jazz club and lyricism.
The fluidity between tracks lends itself to being a concept album.
‘Escapism’ and ‘Hard Out Here’ carry such gravitas on their own as the albums anthem singles, yet layered with the context of telling her story, is as much the therapeutic relief for the audience as it is for RAYE.
You can physically hear her smile when she recalls how “[she] left the room, and never saw him again” within the closure of ‘Oscar Winning Tears’, or the blunt romanticism in ‘Worth It’ that “[she’s] just trying to tell you how [she] feels.”
Signed to Polydor at seventeen, RAYE should have arguably been a household name by now.
When a label refuses to fund a full-length album, seemingly moving the goalpost of what their benchmark for success is with every collaboration and EP released, is it really any wonder she decided to oust them?
“I have been on a 4 ALBUM RECORD DEAL since 2014,” RAYE took to Twitter in June 2021, “and haven’t been allowed to put out one album.”
Shortly after, the singer separated with Polydor, noting that many of the songs that had been given to other artists she had wanted to keep for herself.
Now two years on, the debut album is a patchwork in which the breadth and the peaks of experiences, influences, and most importantly capabilities are sewn beautifully together.
RAYE’s sultry, dramatic flair to the nocturnal blur of triphop and bluesy R’n’B employed across the album is defiant.
Her voice, finding liberation within an unequal industry, sways harrowingly within the production: funk guitars, choral harmonies, and a brass section.
With many critics likening her gut-wrenching vocals to that of Amy Winehouse, both of whom trained at the prestigious BRIT school.
The narrative of grappling with toxic relationships in both romantic and professional contexts is all the more prevalent in a post-MeToo age – her lyrical confessionals are laboured with this motif of independence, not just from her label but from the patriarchal standards of the mainstream music industry.
Such devastatingly beautiful poignancy in tracks such as ‘Body Dysmorphia’ – the echoing of scissors because “sadly, dear, [she wants to] cut pieces off” harbours the candour of the struggles women in particular feel within their bodies – and ‘Ice Cream Man’ cement her new-found defiance.
The powerful midpoint of the album, the latter track details various excruciating stories of sexual assault.
By underpinning this autobiographical record with discrimination and heartbreak, the now independent artist has received acclaim on social media from the likes of Kylie Minogue to Marcus Rashford.
“I’ve waited seven years for this moment” and the catharsis of the outro ‘Fin’ mirrors RAYE’s exploration of herself and the musical inconsistencies she blends so consistently.
Despite the behind-the-scenes, there’s no doubt that the 21st Century has a lot more in store than just the blues for RAYE.
The 25 year old embarks on a European tour this autumn, with almost all the dates entirely sold out upon announcement in January.
My 21st Century Blues is available on all streaming platforms now.
Image credits: @raye Instagram Account