Artist Spotlight: Raelle

“The chapter’s already closed at the beginning”: Raelle reflects on phases and feelings on eloquent, expressive R&B project ’Wake Up Sunshine’.

I sat down with the brilliant Raelle ahead of her debut EP release, ‘Wake Up Sunshine’, a collection of four intricately woven modern soul tracks coming. Borne on Raelle’s unique tone and vibrant, kaleidoscopic harmonies, the EP digs in through some thorny emotions like losing friends, losing love, and embracing the uncertainty and painful growth in between. During our early morning chat, Raelle shared some beautiful insights into her work and her excitement to release her first true self-expression.

Good morning! Congratulations on your release next week, how are you feeling right now? 

I’m really excited! Maybe a little bit nervous. This EP is the first record I’ve actually put together. It means a lot to me so I really hope people like it.

Well, I like it! It’s a beautiful record. Let’s wake up with some fun ones. If you could pick a song to be your entrance music - imagine you’re in a film and you’re walking in to the party in slow motion – what’s playing?

This is going to sound so weird, but…do you remember the film a couple years ago Dolomite Is My Name? I just loved the whole 70s funk soundtrack. It was so dramatic and borderline tacky but I loved it. I could walk in on that. They were all so over the top and flamboyantly dressed, it was crazy, that could be a bit of me in the future. You just really feel yourself when you’re walking to it.

Amazing. if you could switch careers with any artist or join any band from that era, who would it be?

Gladys Night & the Pips. 

I love it, you had that answer ready so easy, absolutely no hesitation. 

Yeah, so easy. I think any band from the 70s I would literally hop straight on whether it would be vocals, guitar, percussion, I’m there. 

It does seem like the golden era, doesn’t it?

I don’t know what happened! It was just amazing for music, there were so many amazing artists that came out at that time that their music has lived on, it’s just crazy. 

I think things had opened up a bit for artists creatively at that time, maybe that’s why?

Yeah, that freedom of expression was so lovely.

So what’s your favourite Gladys Knight song?

Oh no, now you’re going to test me on my knowledge! Best Thing That Ever Happened To Me. I do know Gladys Knight [laughing]. I always stalk people, I want to know their entire life story from infancy to adulthood, I need to know how they became who they are.

It’s always interesting to read those stories, seems like everyone has experienced rejection and failure, which can be really inspiring. Have you ever experienced that in the journey to release your music? 

Yeah, everything has been an uphill battle. That’s what my song ‘Purple Skies’ talks about. Although rejection might feel bad at the time, you learn. It molds you and shapes you, and you can grow from it. Sometimes uncertainty is what you need to show yourself who you are. I feel it helps to ground you as a person. There has to be balance in everything

I really agree. Was there a tipping point where you decided to be an artist despite the obstacles?

I could just feel it, that this was something that I have to do. I don’t really know why, there was never a point where I considered not doing it, I just thought “OK, we’re going to do this and I have no idea how, but we’re going to start here and see what it takes.” 

Let’s talk about the music. How are you prepping for the release? How will you be celebrating?

I’ve been sending it out to lots of people since we can’t do release events, which I would love to do for my next release. I think because I do everything by myself, it’s quite hard to bring together. There’s so many things that go on behind the scenes for an independent release which is crazy. I’m doing a lot of planning for the future and I’ll be celebrating with the people who helped me get to where I am, especially my friends. Another important thing that I’ve learnt through this musical journey is that it defines who’s got your back and who’s got your heart. There’s been so many people who don’t have the best intentions or try to use you. I lost some friends in the process but I can’t really say they were friends. That’s what I wrote ‘Sundown’ about, that loss of friendship. It hurt me a lot, I hate losing people so that was quite a big blow.

One of the things I love about your EP is the sense of temporal shift and how you’ve structured it around the time of day. It’s such a cool approach especially when it’s about loss, transition and changing perspective. What was that process like? How did you come to that understanding of temporality with the record and how has your perspective changed since you wrote the music? 

I actually didn’t write the tracks with the idea of putting it into a project. It was only when I got to ‘Sunrise’ that I thought “wait a second, these all fit together.” It was a friend came up with the name for the EP. We were having a conversation and he said “wake up sunshine” jokingly, and it clicked. I just saw myself. Since I started music it’s been a journey of personal development as well. Through creating and through the struggles that I’ve had to face; making music in the pandemic; feeling so alone and lost; wondering “why am I doing this, what’s the reason.” To be at the place where I am now there’s been a massive shift in perspective and understanding of myself, the people around me, what I want out of my life and how I should treat other people. So when I wrote “Wake Up Sunshine,” it was more in a reflective sense. I think the track should be seen as a prelude, and as rounding everything off. The other songs take you through the emotions that brought me to the first track, so the chapter’s already closed at the beginning. You’ve read the ending, and then you read the story. ‘Wake Up Sunshine’ is me talking to myself and assuring myself, it’s my mind and my thoughts. It’s how I feel about the past year and, essentially, my whole life.

So how did it feel to share those kinds of thoughts? 

It felt really lucky. It felt blessed. It’s been hard transmitting those thoughts onto paper because it’s scary to admit to yourself that these things are real. You have to come face to face with a lot of truths that maybe you didn’t want to see at the beginning, because it means you have to let go and you have to lose things. But it’s been so cathartic and quite healing for myself because I finally understood so much that was cloudy in my mind. I think the important thing when I write music is that I definitely write it for myself. I’ve always done that from the beginning and I’m always going to continue. I share it with other people because more often than not, other people are going through similar situations and they might be able to find pieces of themselves in the music.

Since you went through this process alone due to the circumstances, how does it feel to be an artist in this changing landscape? There’s been huge shifts and disruptions to the world and the industry and you’re moving forward and working on new music. What’s that horizon like for you? 

I’m enjoying the process more because I can actually meet people and collab and go out to events and jam sessions. The first time I started writing music we went straight into the pandemic, so that was all I ever knew. I’ve done that part heavily and intensely. I wrote music over Zoom and only went into the studio two or three times since I haven’t had the chance. Now I get to experience the other side of being an artist so I feel like the sound will be different as well. The energy and vibes are always different when you make music in person so I’m quite excited. 

Let’s talk more about your sound. It’s really beautiful, the vocal work is incredible. You obviously have a lot of influences from the 70s and I hear a lot of classic 90s neo-soul as well. How did you build that out when you’re doing such complex arrangements and working through Zoom? How did you create that?

I always start with instrumentation, so I build that over Zoom with the producer. I’ve been working with my producer Carter Sanders for a year now and he understands my influences and the sound I’m looking for so it’s quite easy to work with him. All the vocal work I do myself. It feels like I’ve had a jolt of inspiration, I don’t know where it comes from but it’ll be sudden. ‘Purple Skies’ was one song that I honestly just sung into the mic and that’s what came out. I was so surprised because I didn’t have too many thoughts going into it in terms of vocal work and lyrics. I have a background in a cappella singing because I was with a group for ages, so I’m used to lots of background vocals and using your voice as an instrument. I think it adds so much texture and different meaning to the sound so I really wanted to incorporate that. It’s really natural and easy for me to do, and just something that I like. 

It definitely shows that you’re really experienced with harmony. What got you into the a cappella group?

I had left school at 18 and I felt really lost so I went to university and did something I didn’t actually like. I did singing at school but I was classically trained for seven years and didn’t like it. I went to university thinking I was going to stop music but realized it was the one thing that made me feel good about myself and that I enjoy. It was really by accident, some guy came up to me and asked me to join. I was so shy and didn’t have any confidence, but I said “yeah, sure.” From that moment onwards I realized you don’t have to be miserable in life, you can actually do what you want. I don’t get that type of feeling from anything else but music. So a cappella kind of started my whole journey! 

What was it about classical music that wasn’t clicking for you? 

I didn’t feel anything from it. It sounded lovely and the arrangements were lovely, but music is all about feeling and I didn’t like how strict you had to be. You can’t make even one error. I was really good at it, so I’d convince myself I liked it When I realized I didn’t actually like it, I felt like I was abandoning or betraying part of myself for going the other way. But I was bored, and it didn’t help me express any emotion. That’s not how I grew up seeing music so it felt really unnatural for me. 

What was your experience like with music growing up? Does your love for 70s music come from your parents? What made you appreciate that mode of expression more?

My parents didn’t actually listen to too much 70s music. My mum was really into her Diana Ross and my dad was into his Reggae. My parents are Jamaican so I had a lot of that influence running through the house. It really wasn’t until later when I was eighteen or nineteen, I heard a song by Kadhja Bonet – ‘Remember The Rain’ – and I was like “oh my god, what is this? I’ve never heard anything like this in my life.” It felt so warm, and so right, like this is a bit of me. After that I kind of went down a rabbit hole deep into that 70s vibe. I thought it was so beautiful and I wanted to emulate that in my music. 

70s and 80s aesthetics are really coming back at the moment. What’s your impression of why that is? What do you think it is that’s so enduring about that era, especially with current artists reinterpreting that sound ?

There was a desperation in their writing, and in their sound as well. Their lyrics and the way that they delivered the music felt like everything was being poured out. It was pure expression to the nth degree. It really personified a feeling so well that you can almost visualize it. I think that was partly to do with the political climate at the time, straight after the civil rights movement. I think a lot of people had started to find their voice after years of oppression - really still in the depths of it but I think that played into it as well. That type of fear and sadness and rage can all be channeled into the music. 

That’s a great point. Maybe that’s why that explosion of feeling and the energy of fighting for change is resonating with people again. 

I definitely felt that during lockdown and when the Black Lives Matter movement ignited last year. It felt so strange because when it started everyone had this collective feeling of being fed up, that’s the only emotion I can bring it back to because our situation has been so long, too long in the making. I think there’s parallels there.

It’s always interesting to see how musical legacy is continued, even going back to jazz and channeling down through soul and neo-soul. I hear a lot of that legacy in your music. What else inspires you? Who’s your vocal idol in terms of tone, creative melody, arrangements? 

I really like Cleo Sol: her arrangements and her message as well. I listened to her new album the other day and it’s just so pure. Raveena is quite cool, I like her style a lot. As for tone, I’ve been told that I have a quite deep and mellow tone of voice, I don’t know if I emulate that from anyone. I was actually told not to sing like that. I think it’s a slight rebellion going on, maybe a little bit! I tried to make my own distinctive sound. I was so terrified when I started and felt like I just had to make music that other people wanted me to make. I think this is the first time that I’ve made something that I wanted to make, that made me feel good. It’s early days so I’m excited that I don’t have that fear anymore and to see where it goes next.

That’s amazing!  Have you started working on some new stuff?

Yeah, I’ll be doing a big musical blast probably next year! I’m in the writing stage at the moment to get it all ready. I just want to take it by storm from next year and see where it goes, but I’m enjoying the process a lot. I get to be in the studio with people, having fun, experimenting with my sound and rhythms and different emotions. I’m trying to get that desperation and explosion of feeling in my songs.

‘Wake Up Sunshine’ EP is available everywhere now, September 3. Written by Raelle and produced by Carter Sanders and André Fisher for ‘Sundown’.