Hey all!
Here's another album review, and this time it's new music from RAYE! She has collaborated with other acts including Jonas Blue, Charli XCX and Jax Jones among others - and has been the supporting act on at least five tours; including Rita Ora, Halsey and Khalid! There are 9 songs on this new album, so without further ado, let's listen to them!
1 - 'Love Me Again'
The first song on the album sounds like it begins inside a church, before transforming into a pop beat. I think in this song, she's singing about a previous lover who she was in a relationship with and maybe was a little too young and stupid...wondering if she could get a second chance and have this person fall in love with her again. With the lyrics 'You're the only one I know', it seems that she is pouring out her emotions in this song, hoping to attract the attention of this lucky person. In the chorus, there is a variation of pitch on the words 'love me again' and it sounds so elegant and smooth, which makes this a really credible song!
2 - 'Change Your Mind'
'You once said that I was perfect, and I'm wondering what changed your mind' are some of the opening spoken lyrics in the song, so this seems to be another emotional song where she is wondering how somebody changed their opinions on her. She speaks about her Friday night's which used to have +1 invitations (and I'm presuming that +1 was the person she is singing about). I think she further explains that she felt really low at this time in her life and often had her girls pick her up, so this must have been a difficult time in her life when maybe she felt as if she found 'the one' and then that love faded away.
3 - 'Regardless'
The first of two collaborations on this album was with Rudimental for the song 'Regardless'. She speaks about different things she is experiencing such as touching somebody through the phone, crying tears for somebody and listening to the words that somebody is singing, but doesn't sing. When you think about pop songs or love things, it's often good to reflect on the good and bad parts of the situation to work out if you truly are in love with a special individual. I think the chorus of the song is an instrumental version of a song from many years ago...but I can't seem to work out where the inspiration of this song came from!
4 - 'Secrets'
The second collaboration was with Regard on the single 'Secrets' - which is all about exposing a lover who has treated her badly. She states 'I'm falling out of love again' which states that it's not the first time she's been played or had secrets hidden from her, again, resulting to spending the night drinking with her 'girlfriends' to get over the situation! The song helps to raise awareness of the fact that some relationships can have secrets from either party, and it's sometimes a good thing, if you don't want to open yourself up too much, but at the same time if it's going to potentially affect your relationship, you might as well be honest with your thoughts, feelings or secrets! This was a great collaboration, and although some of the song is quite instrumental without many lyrics, it flows really well and it's got catchy lyrics to listen to.
5 - 'Natalie Don't'
Ah, so I've heard this song before, but not sure where I've analysed the song before! I think this song is about a woman called 'Natalie' (but it could also be a fake name to hide her identity); who is coming to 'take away her man', whether literally, or the idea that RAYE is in love with this guy and now he's off the market. In the song she warns Natalie to not go further with this guy...questioning her with the lyrics; 'Why you staring at him...when you know he belongs to me'. Either RAYE is obsessed with this individual, or she knows he's better being in a relationship with her than this other girl - and she seems to be praying that she doesn't interfere with the relationship. I think this is a really cool - and if you've not seen the music video, it's really creative and RAYE looks stunning!
6 - 'All Dressed Up'
Some of the opening lyrics in this song are; 'For a while I'm gonna kiss away my worries' which might explain that she's going to forget about anything negative that's going on in her life, whilst she is on a date, or meeting up with a lucky guy? She speaks about wearing tight clothes, pretending it's a Saturday night, wondering who's going to be the next person to break her heart...predicting it before it's even happened! I think that's the thing about love, most people dress up to try and impress the person that they love, which is a really loving thing that we all do, but if people can't accept you or appreciate you when you're not all dressed up, is the relationship worth it at all? Knowing me, I would probably be in tracksuit bottoms everyday and wearing glasses - unless I ran out of contact lenses or needed to go somewhere in a hurry, but yeah...that's just me when I don't feel 'my best'. This seems like a really romantic song, almost like a ballad! At the end of the song she says the words 'That was intense' - yes, it truly was!
7 - 'Please Don't Touch'
In the song, I think she is teasing somebody to not touch her, as the temperature is already 100%, and she doesn't want it if the special lover doesn't 'mean it' - maybe she's looking for proper love than just a one off bit of fun. She explains that in this situation she feels 'vulnerable' and gaining somebody's trust takes 'two of us' - as there's no point trusting somebody if they're not trustworthy with things you say or do. being vulnerable isn't a bad thing as it means there are learning points and you discover yourself, but at the same time you could be forced into something that you might not necessarily want to do. I do like the meaning behind this song though and the fact that she sings about 'the space between us skin is saying more than enough, once you lay a finger it can't be undone'. This could identify that they are currently friends and if they decide to take their friendship further, you can't go back to just being 'friends', or she's letting this guy know that she only wants something serious, and if he just wants fun...he might as well try and find somebody else!
8 - 'Walk On By'
My initial thought around this song was who is she telling to walk on by...and I'm trying to work it out still! I think it's about a previous lover or boyfriend, because she tells them to 'not say hi' and just to walk on by...(bye bye bye). Maybe she's singing about a toxic relationship, somebody who's cheated, or somebody that she just wants to forget about...and she thinks that she might see this person, as they're both on a night out and they might have met at this venue when their friendship/relationship started! the final lyrics are 'I can't let you remind me' so maybe she doesn't want to be reminded on the love they once had for eachother...
9 - 'Love Of Your Life'
The final song on the album is called 'Love Of Your Life' and maybe she is trying to sell herself to somebody in this song, or flirt with them through this song! It's quite a bouncy, happy song saying she could be 'the light when it's dark in the night', have her legs wrapped round this lucky person and her hair all in their face...and also something they don't want to lose. She goes on to sing about this individual and how he should 'put his ego down for a bit' to just listen to her expressing her emotions and being open and honest with how she feels! I think it's a great song to end the album, and I must say, I head bopped from the beginning of the song all the way to the end!
This is a brilliant album from RAYE, especially in the year of 2020 when we all need to smile and get through our difficult situations...singing about them is a way to raise awareness on how focusing on yourself is more important than trying to impress others, but also it relieves a bit of weight from your shoulders rather than keeping all the emotions in! I must say, it's difficult to pick my favourite songs from this album, but I'm going to choose 'Natalie Don't, 'All Dressed Up' and 'Please Don't Touch' (Songs 5, 6 and 7); as they were all so unique, including ballad like singing and instrumentals, and they almost brought a tear to my eyes!
That's all for this music review, I'll be back with another one very soon!
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