This Music May Contain Hope
by Raye

Woah, it was such an experience listening to this album. It doesn't happen often that I catch myself being so captivated by a musical project these days. Such a great follow-up after Raye's debut album, which is solid, but this one takes her a step further as a musician. Such an interesting fusion of genres but always through Raye's specific sound and artistry. I love how living this album feels, she knows how to construct a record, she experiments with literally everything, which is so nice to hear and I love that this is a full listening experience start to finish. Definitely not the type of music that I would play on a daily basis just because I would like to get into it and immerse myself when I click play here. I objectively think that this is the best example this year (so far) of pure musical artistry.

Excellent sophomore effort from RAYE. Having both big bands and orchestras backing her soaring vocals on many tracks makes it feel grand and epic at times while also sprinkling in modern drum and bass elements and being quite personal lyrically, making sure you wouldn't mistake its place in time. You can tell that she handles a lot of the production herself as her personality bleeds through everywhere and the album isn't some perfectly polished made for radio product. She has spoken intros for songs, does musical call outs and cues in a few songs, and structures it in a way where it feels almost set up as a performance piece more than an album, right down to having a "set the scene" intro as well as a credits sequence at the end of the album where she thanks everyone that worked on the project including the entire London Symphony Orchestra by name.

I have adored the song WHERE IS MY HUSBAND! since it came out as a single last year and had high expectations for this album, and it delivered. It could have done even better as a slightly tighter cut if she took out a couple of the tracks, but I loved it overall. The theatrical feel of the album and its rougher edges will probably turn some off, but I personally loved the character it brought to the project and hope RAYE remains as involved in the production room for future releases as she was here.