RAYE: Last News

Louis Theroux Interviews, including Pete Doherty and RAYE.The six-episode series sees the journalist and broadcaster interview various celebrities about their lives and careers. In the first series, which aired last year, Theroux met the likes of Rita Ora, Yungblud and Stormzy.In the second series, Theroux will meet The Libertines and Babyshambles frontman in Normandy, where he lives with his wife and daughter.

Reverend Al Green has made his return by sharing a cover of Lou Reed’s ‘Perfect Day’. Check it out below.The track is the first new music that the American singer, songwriter, pastor and record producer has recorded in five years.

RAYE has spoken to NME about her music industry battle to be shortlisted for the Mercury 2023, as well as her recent collab with Stormzy and hopes for longevity. Watch our interview above.The London singer-songwriter was speaking at the launch of the Mercury Prize 2023, where her 2023 debut ‘My 21st Century Blues‘ was shortlisted alongside albums by the likes of Arctic Monkeys, J Hus, Jessie Ware, Olivia Dean, Fred Again.., Young Fathers and Shygirl.“To be recognised for a body of work is something that I’ve really wanted for a really long time,” she told NME.

Olivia Dean has spoken to NME about her Mercury-shortlisted album ‘Messy’, as well as going to school with fellow nominee RAYE and penning the England Women’s World Cup anthem, ‘Call Me A Lioness’. Watch our interview above.The London singer-songwriter was speaking at the launch of the Mercury Prize 2023, where her 2023 debut was shortlisted alongside albums by the likes of Arctic Monkeys, J Hus, Jessie Ware, Young Fathers and Shygirl.Dean told NME about how she was “overwhelmed” and “shocked” to be shortlisted, but “trying to be present and take it all in”.“Can you believe it? It only came out three weeks ago! I’m like, ‘Guys! Give me a sec!’,” she said.Asked about the character of the album, Dean told NME: “Hopefully, it captures a message of allowing yourself to be imperfect. I really enjoyed that I made an album that feels human and doesn’t feel processed or that it was made by 100 people over email.

K-pop girl group aespa have teased their upcoming single ‘Better Things’, which is allegedly an unreleased demo track by English singer-songwriter RAYE.Last week, aespa began sharing teasers for a mysterious new release, which the group later revealed would be a single titled ‘Better Things’, due out on August 18 at midnight local time.Today (July 31), the quartet unveiled a teaser for the song which included an 8-bit-inspired snippet of the track playing over a visual of a retro handheld water ring toss game.aespa 에스파 ‘Better Things’➫ 2023.08.18 0AM (KST) / 0AM (PDT) / 0AM (EST)*Releasing at your local time midnight

Stormzy and RAYE teamed up for the sultry and 2000s-reminiscent collaborative single, ‘The Weekend’. Check out the track and the video below.‘The Weekend’ is the second collaboration from the two south Londoners have together – following the Norbury grime star hopping on the R&B singer’s single  ‘Ambition’ back in 2016.Yesterday (July 19), Stormzy and RAYE dropped their new London-produced single.

RAYE gave a powerful speech on sexual assault and her label troubles during her Pyramid Stage set at Glastonbury 2023 yesterday (June 24).The singer, who went independent after a high-profile label dispute last year and recently released debut album ‘My 21st Century Blues’, hit the festival’s main stage on Saturday afternoon.During the nine-song set, she took time to address her public issues around her former label, saying: “I can’t quite express how much it’s taken me to get to this moment right now. I’ve been a musician since I can remember.

Harry Styles, Wet Leg, RAYE and more all won at this week’s Ivor Novello Awards – see the full list of winners below.At Thursday’s (May 18) ceremony in London, Wet Leg’s Hester Chambers and Rhian Teasdale were honoured as Songwriters Of The Year, with the judging panel describing their style as  “fresh, unapologetic and direct, with surprising melodies that demand attention.”RAYE, meanwhile, won Best Contemporary Song for ‘Escapism’, which she also performed on the night, while Styles won the Music Most Performed Work award for ‘As It Was’.72 individual songwriters and composers from Britain and Ireland were nominated for the 2023 Ivors, and songwriting partnerships with Harry Styles and Kid Harpoon, and Cleopatra Nikolic (known artistically as Cleo Sol) and Dean ‘Inflo’ Josiah Cover lead the way, with three nominations each.Best Album nominees included Arctic Monkeys’ latest effort, ‘The Car’, as well as Little Simz’s ‘No Thank You’, Fontaines D.C.’s ‘Skinty Fia’, but the award went to Sault’s ‘11’.Elsewhere, Charli XCX won the Visionary Award and Sting was awarded Academy Fellowship.See the full list of award winners below.Academy FellowshipSting Best Album’11’ Written by Dean “Inflo” Josiah Cover, Jamar McNaughton, Cleopatra Nikolic and Jack Peñate Performed by SAULT Published in the UK by Copyright Control and Sentric Music Best Contemporary Song‘Escapism’ Written by 070 Shake, RAYE and Mike Sabath Performed by RAYE and 070 Shake Published in the UK by Sony Music Publishing and Warner Chappell Music Best Original Film ScoreDon’t Worry DarlingComposed by John Powell Published in the UK by Universal Music Publishing Best Original Video Game ScoreMario + Rabbids Sparks of HopeComposed by Gareth Coker, Grant Kirkhope and

SZA has added two more London shows to her recently announced 2023 European tour – see the dates below and buy tickets here.Earlier this week, the singer announced new tour dates in the UK, Europe and US behind new album ‘SOS’. They follow a US arena tour that kicked off in February.In addition to the two initial London dates at The O2 on June 17 and 18, SZA has now announced that she will return to the venue on June 25 and 26 for two more gigs.The second leg of the tour will see the Grammy-winning R&B artist perform at arenas in Amsterdam, Paris, Zurich, Berlin and Cologne, before moving through the UK for gigs in Manchester and Glasgow ahead of the London residency.All European dates will take place throughout June and will end with one performance in Dublin’s 3Arena.

RAYE has said she would love to form a rock supergroup with Charli XCX, Rina Sawayama and Ivorian Doll.The artist was speaking to POPSUGAR when she was asked who would be in her dream band. “Rina Sawayama, Charli XCX, and Ivorian Doll.

My 21st Century Blues (★★★★☆).Her first full-length album is an impressive debut that not only shows off the strengths we already knew she possessed, but shows what she’s capable of when she has free rein.The first indication that Raye was really onto something came with “Escapism,” Raye’s first single to chart internationally. The song’s trip-hoppy beat clips along at a brisk, tense pace, underscoring the feeling of running away toward better things.The rest of the album is just as meticulously crafted and has a sense of timelessness about it, helped along by the way she bookends the album with a cabaret-like intro and outro.Raye’s songwriting is as edgy and fresh as any R&B-inflected pop, but its instrumentation and production is deeply indebted to the best of British jazz and soul.

RAYE has covered Kate Bush‘s ‘Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)’ as part of this year’s Live Lounge Month – check out the video below.The singer visited BBC Radio 1 yesterday (September 7) to record two live tracks, beginning with her recent single ‘Black Mascara’.RAYE then took on Bush’s classic 1985 single, which has seen a huge spike in popularity of late owing to its appearance in Stranger Things 4.For her version, the London artist removed the galloping beat and synths that feature in the original song in favour of piano and stings.“I didn’t feel it was the right thing to change much. We’re bringing it down – no drums, kind of like [a] ballad,” RAYE explained of her moody, stripped-back take on ‘Running Up That Hill’.“[Bush] 100 per cent wrote this record, 100 per cent produced it… she’s like one of my idols.

RAYE has returned with a new single called ‘Black Mascara’ – watch the official video for the dancefloor smash here.The singer has been teasing her debut album across 2022, and describes the new track as “the only upbeat dance track on the album.”RAYE said: “This song is about another story that has contributed to my ‘blues’. I used the juxtaposition of an upbeat dance track to tell this awful story of being misled by someone I really loved and trusted.

RAYE has spoken out about the challenges facing young songwriters, and what needs to change with major labels in the shifting musical landscape.The singer made headlines when she parted ways with Polydor Records last year after claiming that the label had refused to release her debut album, despite signing a four-album deal in 2014.Speaking on the red carpet at last week’s Ivor Novellos – where she was nominated for Songwriter Of The Year among the likes of Adele, Dave and Coldplay – the singer told NME that she had “found peace” with her former label, but that many more changes were still needed in the music industry to make songwriters feel valued and financially stable.“Songwriting is a craft that people don’t see, because it’s done in the darkness in studios and behind closed doors,” said RAYE. “I don’t think people realise how essential songwriters are in an industry based on songs.“Things need to be put in place to protect our future songwriters – to nurture them and make them feel special and important.”The singer told NME that the shortlist for her category at the Ivors proved that there was “an openness that there hasn’t been before in styles, flavours, genres and different types of expression” in modern music, and how the major label model needed to respond to this.“For the first time, we’re seeing that the ‘we need a hit’ model is fading,” she said.

Disclosure have teamed up with RAYE for their new garage driven single ‘Waterfall’ – you can listen to the track below.The song follows the dance duo’s previous single ‘You’ve Got To Let Go If You Want To Be Free’ and is RAYE’s first music of 2022.“RAYE is such a dream to work with in the studio. Best way to describe her is as a hook machine! You get the beat rolling and vibes going and she gives you like five chorus melody options straight away… she makes writing the way we do so easy & enjoyable,” Disclosure said.“We all knew within five minutes we were gonna make a UKG summer sunshine banger and that’s exactly what we ended up with.

RAYE has reflected on leaving Polydor in the summer after a public label dispute in her first interview since becoming an independent artist.The singer parted ways with Polydor Records earlier this year, after recently claiming that the label had refused to release her debut despite signing a four-album deal in 2014.“I have been on a 4 ALBUM RECORD DEAL since 2014 !!! And haven’t been allowed to put out one album,” she wrote on Twitter at the time. “ALL I CARE ABOUT is the music.

RAYE has announced details of a UK and Irish headline tour, set to take place later this year – see the list of dates below.The new shows come off the back of recent single ‘Call On Me’ and a series of high-profile label disputes that followed.Kicking off in Belfast at Limelight 2 on November 6, the tour will travel through the UK and Ireland for the first half of November, ending in Leeds at the Beckett Student Union on November 16.See RAYE’s upcoming UK and Irish tour dates below.

Laura Mvula has voiced her support for RAYE, after the singer left her record label following claims that she was being prevented from releasing her debut album.The singer parted ways with Polydor Records earlier this week, after recently claiming that the label had refused to release her debut despite signing a four-album deal in 2014.Mvula is no stranger to label conflicts herself, previously revealing that Sony Records unceremoniously sent her a seven-line email to reveal she was being dropped in 2017.Speaking to NME shortly after her third album ‘Pink Noise’ was nominated for the Hyundai Mercury Prize 2021, Mvula encouraged Raye to “keep your head up”.“It sounds like a cliche, but hold your form.

RAYE has announced that she’s now an independent artist after exiting her record deal with Polydor.The singer, who last month alleged that the label had refused to let her release her debut record despite having signed a four-album deal in 2014, wrote today (July 19) that an agreement was reached for her to leave.“Polydor and I have spoken and we have agreed to part ways,” she began her note on Twitter.“I want to say a big genuine thank you to the Polydor team, and all the individuals who have fought for me, believed in me and worked so hard for me across the years.“Polydor are an incredible infrastructure power house team, unfortunately we have had different goals artistically and I am very grateful to them for giving me a graceful smooth

Raye is taking a break from social media, days after revealing claims that her label won’t let her release her debut album.The singer has been signed on a four-album deal with Polydor since 2014 but has yet to release a full-length record.Writing on Twitter earlier today (July 4), Raye (whose real name is Rachel Keen) announced she would be stepping back from social media for the time being. “I am supposed to be in ‘Call On Me’ promo mode but I just don’t have the strength to promote this record right now,” she said, referring to her latest single.“I am leaving for a while, and I’m leaving my phone behind.

RAYE has played songs from her would-be debut album to fans on her Instagram after she claimed that her label hasn’t allowed her to release a record.The London singer-songwriter, who was shortlisted for the BBC Sound Of…2017 award, played snippets of several unheard songs that are intended for a debut release.As The Line Of Best Fit notes, one “banger” called ‘Fantastic’ was played to fans during RAYE’s Instagram Live before a piano-led track written with the singer’s best friend was shared, titled ‘Buss It Down’.