Song Review: RAYE's 'Genesis.'

On the 7th June 2024, global sensation RAYE released a 7 minute song on 7 inch vinyl for £7.77 following a 7 day long music video shoot. Not one of those seamlessly composed 420 seconds is wasted. Bursting with nuance, references and complex layers of both metaphorical and literal meaning, it is nothing short of a modern Bohemian Rhapsody (quite literally: its running time beats that of the Queen classic by a cool 1 minute and 6 seconds). 

An ode to modern life, the track (released both as one song and in three separate parts) takes the listener on a winding journey through whichever circle of Dante’s Inferno our post-technological revolution dystopia belongs to. It is part epic poem, part essay, part sermon, part prophetic warning, part celebration of life. If in the future someone asks me what the 2020s were like, I’ll play them this. ‘Genesis.’ is a tale of anxiety and hope for the ages.

RAYE’s own emergence into the public consciousness was rapid. For years she sat in the purgatory of the almost famous. As is so often the case, this was largely due to the neglect of her previous record label under whom she featured on various ‘help-I-cannot-get-this-out-of-my-head’ pop hits of the mid 2010s. When she was finally released from her contract in 2021, she sky-rocketed into superstardom. Using her industry-defying-underdog origin story and viral single ‘Escapism’ as springboards, her first independent album ‘My 21st Century Blues’ took the world by storm. 

In ‘Genesis.’, however, RAYE lifts the lid to her toolbox a little higher to reveal her phenomenal ability to tie music and lyricism together. Bonded by her voice, they push and pull, fluctuating between working alongside and against each other with a mesmerizing sense of tension.

Just as she tackles the lived modern experience without pulling any punches, her unique style combines elements of R&B, jazz, pop, classical, blues and dance music without compromising any of them. Her words and powerhouse vocals soar high above the dramatic swell of the orchestra and rhythm of the drums. Rather than creating space for herself in the music industry, she has smashed the mould into pieces and started again. Another kind of origin story.

Like all great art, ‘Genesis.’ leaves room for individual response. Each listen uncovers something new and each of us will take something different from it. She speaks to a collective experience whilst anchoring it firmly in the personal. The EP shines with its own dazzling light which seems to seep deep into the human heart to illuminate us from the inside. ‘Genesis.’ is a gift to all of us.

8.5/10