Why you should pray for RAYE

Where to start, then, with Raye's new album, This Music May Contain Hope? And what to say about her, and it? Well, three things.

1. Who is Raye?

First off, if you've never heard of her, she's a singer... and not just any old singer, but an absolutely brilliant and hugely gifted one. Her full name is Rachel Agatha Keen, and she was born on 24 October 1997 in Tooting, London.

Ask AI how to describe her voice, and it suggests: "Highly versatile, blending a warm, thick-fold chest voice with light, breathy falsetto and a bright, 'brassy' edge often compared to a muted trumpet. Her vocals are celebrated for technical proficiency, featuring swift register flips, soulful riffs, jazz-influenced scatting, and intense, emotive belting."

Which is all well and good, but really just a long-winded AI way of saying: This Woman Can Sing! And if you've never heard her voice, you should give it a try.

Unsurprisingly, she has won seven Brit Awards, four Global Awards, two Ivor Novello Awards, and two MTV Europe Music Awards, as well as being nominated for a Mercury Prize and three Grammy Awards. Oh, and she was the first female recipient of the Brit Award for Songwriter of the Year.

2. This Music May Contain Hope

Thing number two to be said: Her latest album, This Music May Contain Hope, has received predominantly rave reviews. Rolling Stone, giving it five stars, described it as "an exciting, life-affirming listen that reminds you it’s never too late to turn things around". NME, also giving it five stars, said it was "awe-inspiring," adding: "Throughout it all, two things are very evident: RAYE’s agile voice has never sounded so good, and her pen has never been so strong." The Telegraph described it as "a towering achievement".

Stylistically, the BBC website said it "fuses old-school jazz with an orchestra, blues, big band and soul," while The Guardian observed that its "songs... unexpectedly leap from Raye’s trademark retro soul into the realm of swing-era jazz – the ghosts of Ella Fitzgerald’s early singles with Chick Webb’s band hover around I Hate the Way I Look Today – as well as house music, showtunes and 50s easy-listening schmaltz. Her soprano is occasionally deployed in distinctly operatic style; elsewhere her vocals take on the careful enunciation of the musical theatre star. There is a lot of very rococo orchestration, much of it in the style of a soundtrack from Hollywood’s golden era."

Personally, I loved it. The extraordinary breadth of her talent is matched only by the terrific versatility of her voice.

3. A real faith

Third and final thing. She was brought up in a Christian home, and "has recently found her way back to faith," according to the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity (LICC). And, says Kezia Martin at Seen and Unseen, Raye "credits [her faith] for getting her sober again. She told the BBC 'she might not even be here without it'. Throughout her songs, old and new, she declares over her pain and suffering promises of hope that are written in the Bible."

The first song of her latest album ends with the lyrics "And a voice note from her grandma that would say / Call me, please, we need to pray," Later, a song called The WhatsApp Shakespeare begins: "Once upon a time there was a Girl / and there was a serpent /
Oh, and her name was Eve / And she took a bite from the apple / And the story ain't this dissimilar..."

Later, in the same song, she sings: "Grandma had to bring her Bible / Sister wanna hunt him down / But only Jesus can save him now / Like-like-like Lazarus, I did rise." In the song Joy, we hear: "Cover me with Your feathers, Father / Shelter me with Your wings," and later, "I may cry through the night / But my joy comes in the morning" - a direct reference to Psalm 30v5.

Of course, all these lyrics make much more sense within the overall context of each song and the album as a whole! The point is simply that her songs are what one might call "naturally scattered" with spiritual references.

Perhaps the most encouraging thing, from the perspective of spiritual growth, is that whereas lots of the songs on her previous album, My 21st Century Blues, have a little "E" by them on Spotify to represent "explicit content", none of the songs on This Music May Contain Hope do. It's a noticeable difference. Spiritual progress? Could be...

So, enjoy Raye. In an era of sometimes bland and instantly forgettable pop and rock music, she's the real deal; a major talent and an original composer. You can listen to the new album on Spotify here.

And because it is tough for all of us being a Christian, and even more so for one in the public eye, as you listen, please: do pray for Raye.