RAYE, after writing cuts for Beyoncé, John Legend…, jumps on stage with her bittersweet album ‘Euphoric Sad Songs’
RAYE had already a place in music writing for stars like Beyoncé, featuring in hits with David Guetta, Jonas Blue or Jax Jones, as well as releasing several short records, but she has just presented her first album, ‘Euphoric Sad Songs’. Spectacular Dance-Pop with a bittersweet story behind (that we unveil 😏).
Reading Time | 3 min
Listening Time | 17 min
RAYE (ft. Rudimental) Regardless
- The single with which this Briton presents the album in 2021, ‘Regardless‘, will surely ring a bell. It samples iiO, “Rapture”, a classic dance song from 2001.
- As the title anticipates, ‘Euphoric Sad Songs’ takes us on an emotions roller coaster, the ones Rachel Keen (RAYE) experienced when breaking up with her partner. She explains it this way:
It’s all completely honest. Brutally honest. Completely real.
It was actually quite intense and painful at times to write some of these songs. It was basically me documenting my healing process. It was me experiencing for the first time a heartbreak that was so raw, and just so big to even comprehend what it was. It was very intense and painful and sad.
- That’s right, the album takes us through nine stages of ‘grief’, from breakup to recovery:
- Love Me Again: She asks her partner to love her again. For her there is no point in separating.
- Change Your Mind: Her couple confirms they are breaking up, bus she insists him to change his mind.
- Regardless: They are no longer together and her world collapses. In spite of all the tears she has shed for him, she still wants her partner back.
- Secrets: She realizes that he was keeping a secret, that he had someone else.
- Natalie Don’t: She finds out who the other person is, Natalie, and asks her desperately not to take his man.
- All Dressed Up: For the first time she goes out without him. She is just looking for a one night stand, something to help her forget.
- Please Don’t Touch: She meets someone else she likes, but is afraid he will break her heart again, and asks him not to touch her if he doesn’t really mean it.
- Walk On By: She tells the true story when she met her ex-boyfriend 1 year after the breakup and fell again. She sleeps with him but runs away before he wakes up. In the song she asks him to walk on by if they ever see each other again. Empowerment!
- Love Of Your Life: She turns the page and tells the next boy to take care, because he can sneak in for her and she might become the ‘love of his life‘ 💋
RAYE Natalie Don’t
- ‘Natalie Don’t’ is the best song from the album. It’s a modern version of Dolly Parton’s “Jolene”. A song where a woman desperately asks another not to take her man away. By the way, as with the original cut, it is a true fact and both Natalie and Jolene exist, although we are not going to look for them, are we? 🕵
- If you want to know more about the album, in this MTV documentary RAYE shares track-by-track insights into the making of ‘Euphoric Sad Songs‘.
- We leave you with a great mashup (mix) of RAYE’s best songs to date. It was recoreded by BBC Radio 1:
- RAYE has amassed over 1 billion streams and she wants to take on the world as she explains herself. Of course, if she continues on the same path, she will 💪
I’ve got big dreams, big goals, and I’ve only just begun.
RAYE Facebook Image
