INTERVIEW: RAYE on single 'Natalie Don't': "For me it's about uplifting myself, empowering myself even in a situation when I'm watching someone I love walk away"
Interview: Jett Tattersall
RAYE, real name Rachel Keen, is one of the most successful artists to emerge from the UK new R&B wave in the last few years that has produced stars such as Mabel and Jorja Smith. First releasing music in 2014, she scored her first major global hit in 2016 when she co-wrote and was the featured singer on the Jax Jones single ‘You Don’t Know Me’. At the same time, she came third in the prestigious BBC Sound of 2017 awards, followed by further collaborations with Mabel, David Guetta and Jess Glynne.
Keen is also an established songwriter, writing hits for a multitude of major artists including John Legend, Charli XCX, Little Mix and Hailee Steinfeld. Last year, she co-wrote the song ‘Bigger’ the first track on Beyoncé’s The Lion King: The Gift album and her compositions have racked up over 2.25 billion streams on Spotify alone.
This year, she has scored major success with the single ‘Secrets’, a collaboration with Regard, which peaked in the top 10 in the UK and number 24 in Australia. This was followed in July with ‘Natalie Don’t’, a glorious, cinematic electro-synth-pop track that re-imagines the story of the Dolly Parton classic ‘Jolene’ for the 21st century. Inspired by a real-life story of a friend that came between Keen and her then-partner, it is a sugar rush of a track full of dreamy melodies, soaring strings and a driving synth bass line, plus Keen’s remarkable vocals which switch from a raspy plea to a smooth higher pitch in a snap of the fingers. One of the greatest moments in pop this year. We recently caught up with RAYE to chat more about her music.
RAYE! Hello and first things first - thank you for releasing ‘Natalie Don’t’. What a tune. We just can't stop playing it here. Clearly inspired by the infamous nemesis, Jolene, who's also mentioned in the third verse, can you talk me through this killer track?
I can. First of all, thank you so much. I'm so glad you love it. It really warms my heart. I love this song and I wrote it about a year ago. Definitely inspired by Dolly’s Jolene, and it was about a situation that happened close to me where a woman that I thought was my friend went behind my back and something happened. This is why I love being a writer, you know? You get to make something ugly and intimidating something beautiful and tangible. And ‘Natalie Don’t’ saved me personally and on top of that, I'm even kind of glad that Natalie did what Natalie did, because I love the song that much that if I didn't have it, I think I would be really sad.
There's that gorgeous bassline laid with electro synth and what I love about it is that contrast between the lyrics and the melody. Is that something you always liked doing, that absolute flip of a song with regards to contrast?
I do really enjoy opposites on music, where the sound feels one way and then you're getting something different. Songs like ‘Dancing On My Own’ by Robyn or even ‘Sorry’ by Justin Bieber. When you have something, it feels happy, but when you listen to it, really it has something underneath it. I really, I really enjoy that. I also feel it makes the sadness tangible. I'm not really one when I'm upset to put on a ballad and cry in the corner, cause I just get too sad and I cry too much. So for me, it's about uplifting myself, empowering myself even in a situation when I'm watching someone I love walk away for someone else. I like that you picked up on that as well.
No, it's true. There's a real danger in too many sad guitar love songs because we’ll all just drown in the bath! ‘Dancing On My Own’ is a good reference and it brings me to ‘Secrets’, which again, you've got this lush kind of drum and bass laced, electronic dance track that you collaborated on with Regard. I dare anyone not to dance to this track, but then along came your Garden Acoustic version and we were smacked like 180 with a different song entirely. You wrote this song separately so I just want to know what was your original intention with the song and how do you feel about its complete euphoric club change?
I'm going to see if I can find the real old demo. The original was R&B. It was a lot slower. It was a few semitones lower in pitch. I wrote it when I was like 19 or 20, so it was quite a while ago. But I always loved the song when I made it. I used to play it on repeat. Always, every time I got in my car. I knew the song was special. I think it needed to be wrapped up and packaged in a way that people could digest it how they have. Regard came and basically remixed a demo of mine and made it just amazing. And I fell in love with the song all over again and we released it so quickly. As soon as I heard it, I was like, ‘right let's get it out, get it out, get it out!’
Isn't that wonderful as well that someone else has come along and clearly heard in your music, your desire to have heartbreaking and really emotional things turned into a positive. You have a number of incredible acoustic performances on your YouTube channel, just you and a piano. ‘Please Don't Touch’ particularly is absolutely, jaw-droppingly, incredible. Your voice promotes like a physical reaction. It's magical. I just want to know, have you always been aware of the power of it?
That's so lovely and flattering. Um, yes and no. You know, I came from a place where I've always had a dream to be a singer and a writer and have stories to tell from the age of like 10 and 11. Shouting to get any opportunity promoting myself, trying to meet producers. Hustling and hustling. I think my voice has also progressed with the journey. It's hard to remember always the power of your own voice.
What role did music have in your childhood?
Music is my everything. It's my first love, my longest relationship and my best friend. I've learned to rely on it. It keeps me sane. There's a song for every occasion. I learned really young, me and my sisters, because we grew up in a musical family. We grew up in church, so it was like gospel choir. We learned how to harmonize. So now when we sing together I'll take the main harmony, my sister will take the top one, my other sister will take the lowest and we're just all singing in three-part harmony in the house and it's effortless. It's just who we are. It's identity to me. A life without music isn’t a life. You know? That's just how it is.
With music being your heart and your soul, what, in your opinion, makes a song great?
In my opinion, there are always good melodies. There are always things that you hear on the radio or you hear around and it sounds beautiful. But for me the best kind of songs is a lyric which ties it up and makes you feel something or think something, or hear a story or picture a scenario. Even the best type of song is the song that you press play and you immediately go to your place. Not even the artist's place. You just go to your story, which is pretty beautiful.
It's a great time we're living in, but the world is in a bit of a the car crash at the moment. We've got dance music and nowhere to dance. And I imagine watching a crowd move to your tracks is both euphoric and also a learning tool. How this year's restrictions affected your dance music and inspirations?
Some people are good at home. It's not my favourite environment. I like to see things. I like to be constantly feeding my brain with more inspiration and ideas. Seeing things. Stimulation. So it's been an ugly year at the worst of times, but also weird because with music that's doing well and growing you want to play it live. Festival season was about to be, really, a movie. And I know all of us artists were all broken-hearted. How has that affected what I create? I'm actually writing for other artists again. I've just started.
So we haven't had your frustrated lockdown dance track yet?
I've done a few bits and pieces. There are songs, but I'm used to a workflow where every day I want to do something. I want to create, I want to chase it, I’m motivated, excited to be on it. But when it's like, be in the house, now you're gonna go on Zoom and do a session and write a song with someone on Zoom. That's not real life, I can't do that. I just don't like it. So, I've just been dealing with it basically!
Before I have to leave you, what is on the horizon for you, RAYE?
More music. And, I would like to say, music that I love, just purely love. I’m so proud of ‘Natalie Don't’ and that progression of my artistry. I feel great. I hope you can expect some more good music and when the world is healed some live shows of which I will be exploding, like a firework of joy and happiness to be back on the stage!
‘Natalie Don’t’ is out now via Universal Music. You can download on iTunes and stream on Apple Music and Spotify.
To keep up with all things RAYE you can follow her on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.
