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Raye

I'm not a fan because the overall effect is quite "chopped up". Her voice constantly shifts from lower to higher registers, there are lots of words like in Rap. And the music itself is quite fragmented - bits of beats but no overall structure or melodic lines.

It's entertaining because of the variety she brings to her voice and her engaging personality, but the great songs are just not there. She's not adding anything to the modern songbook the way that some other singer-songwriters are able to do. Maybe she will mature but she's not a major songwriter yet. And there are all too few of those. Many major female artists (Adele, Taylor Swift...) have committees of songwriters working for them. And that's not the same as a real songwriter who puts her soul into the words.
 
les24preludes said:
And the music itself is quite fragmented - bits of beats but no overall structure or melodic lines.

It's entertaining because of the variety she brings to her voice and her engaging personality, but the great songs are just not there. She's not adding anything to the modern songbook the way that some other singer-songwriters are able to do.
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I don’t agree. The fragmentation and deconstructed nature in conjunction with such powerful writing is what I like about it. I love the way, like great pop music over the decades, everything that is not essential is either missing or very cleverly twisted. It is a very, very clever production IMO. So much thought in it. I’m far less interested in watching her live performances (the world is rammed full of great singers), the thing I like here is the studio creation; the concept and execution. It is a very good album and I understand exactly why it won so many awards.
 
Another thing that struck me on listening to Raye was the use of Autotune -

identifying the corrected vocals on Ice Cream Man >

 
Tony L said:
I don’t agree. The fragmentation and deconstructed nature in conjunction with such powerful writing is what I like about it. I love the way, like great pop music over the decades, everything that is not essential is either missing or very cleverly twisted. It is a very, very clever production IMO. So much thought in it. I’m far less interested in watching her live performances (the world is rammed full of great singers), the thing I like here is the studio creation; the concept and execution. It is a very good album and I understand exactly why it won so many awards.
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You certainly side with the majority here! Yes, it's clever and that's a modern style - loads of cute and clever words over a beat. Not much here that singers like SZA haven't done already. Check out her "Drew Barrymore" (back in 2017) and compare it with "Escapism". Myself I prefer SZA, but that song was well into her career and maybe there's more to come from Raye.


H.E.R. is another contemporary singer with the same kind of conversational stream of consciousness lyrics. She does some good things too.

 
Big Tabs said:
Another thing that struck me on listening to Raye was the use of Autotune
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It is just a current sonic aesthetic. She’s more than proven she can sing in an old-school conventional torch singer way, and up there with the best of them. Criticising it is like criticising Kraftwerk or Daft Punk for using vocoders. It’s just a design choice.

PS FWIW I personally think it is hugely overused in modern music and will end up sounding even more dated than a DX7 preset, but it is clearly just an artistic decision. The two Yeule albums, amongst my end-of-year favourites of last year and the year before, have a fair bit too, though in a very different (indie/alt) context there. It is just a production tool like a delay or flanger.
 
She has an absolutely superb voice, but maybe she works it too hard. It leaves me a bit cold.

I tend to agree with les24, that maybe in this case, less would be more.

She hasn't had the easiest ride through the record business, though, so I'm glad for the success she's reaping right now, despite it not being something for me at the moment.
 
Tony L said:
It is just a current sonic aesthetic. She’s more than proven she can sing in an old-school conventional torch singer way, and up there with the best of them. Criticising it is like criticising Kraftwerk or Daft Punk for using vocoders. It’s just a design choice.
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You misunderstood.
watch the video, it isn’t that obvious.

I wasn’t criticising the use of autotune. I thought I had heard it used, but it was less obvious than Kanye or Cher. When I tried to find out whether the tool was used or not, that youtube video came up and I thought it was interesting. Glad my ears are on target.
I wasn’t questioning whether she can sing. Or the choice to use it as it is used frequently across many genres
but
I find a vocoder to be distinct and obvious, whereas Autotune can be used in less than obvious ways. So I am pleased to confirm it.
I don’t think Raye uses it all of the time on her album.
 
When an artist (no T's) sends shivers up my back I have to concede they must be quite good if they can make such an emotional connection.

I've watched the BRIT's performance back a couple of times to that effect.

The mixture of modern and torch styles is certainly a winner.

Mind you the OH thinks she's a bit of a snowflake with all the tears and hard luck lyrics.

Each to their own.
 
Little Simz is great! No Thank You was one of my favourite albums last year. Never thought I’d connect with it, but it is great! Another album that really works as a whole.
 
I do think some are in danger of being over critical, she’s still a very young artist. The idea that she should be adding to ‘songbook’ is a bit bizarre.

This may well be her absolute peak, she may mature into something else. I seem to recall people being sniffy about Amy Winehouse at the time.

Not everyone can be Joni Mitchell. It also doesn’t really matter what we think.
 
There's an interesting article about her journey as a singer in the Guardian today.

www.theguardian.com

Raye’s record-breaking Brits defied the limited imaginations of the British music industry

Raye’s six Brit awards marked a huge vindication for the newly independent artist and rightly shamed the major label that apparently couldn’t see her potential
www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com

I wasn't aware she'd had a contact with a major for seven years but was effectively been blocked from releasing a record and pushed towards "featuring" side gigs on other people's records. It sounds like the 2020's version of "20 Feet From Stardom".

re: the comments on autotune: I see that as a vocal equivalent of wah wah on guitar in the 60s. My dad, who was an big Ella and Frank fan, was adamant that it covered up the fact the guitarist couldn't play that well.
 
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