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Gen Z’s taste in music is not all misanthropic Chappell Roans and sexed-up Sabrina Carpenters. If you’ve never heard of Raye, you might want to check her out.
The artist, whose real name is Rachel Agatha Keen, is best known for her viral hit “Where Is My Husband!” that was released last fall. “Why is this beautiful man waiting for me to get old? / Why he already testing my patience? / I only fear he taking time with other women that ain’t me,” she sings. Not all Gen Zers are afraid of marriage.
On her second album, “This Music May Contain Hope,” she’s experiencing heartbreak with flair. “This is curated melancholy, a 73-minute melodrama where sorrow is filtered through an Old Hollywood lens until it sparkles,” Pitchfork declares. She’s also talking about relatable issues such as body image and comforting friends.
On this sophomore album, we feel Raye’s mixture of hope and despair, beautifully demonstrated in songs such as “I Will Overcome” and “The WhatsApp Shakespeare,” which speak to experiences of disappointment. Her ability to intertwine the truth with pithy rhythms keeps you engaged and interested.
I have already listened to a few of the songs with my girls (12, 8, and 6) because the themes are appropriate for them to hear and relatable to what they are going through right now. The jovial “I Hate The Way I Look Today” is a self-pep talk with scat singing and an all-male choir serving as backup. “Though it isn’t simple as it sounds / But when self-love lets you down / You must never sigh and fret / Get a grip, that’s what I said,” Raye sings.
The catchy “Skin & Bones” and the aforementioned “Where Is My Husband!” appear back-to-back on the album, emphasizing the need for a real man in a woman’s life. “He’s insane ’cause he thinks he can make love / Without having to love me,” she sings on the first track.
There are themes of faith, family, and the importance of community, and two songs made me cry. “Fields” with her Grandad Michael brought back memories of the influential patriarchs in my family and childhood. I’ve sent the ballad “I Know You’re Hurting” to so many women in my life this week because sometimes when we don’t know what to say, a song can speak for us. “You give when you have little left to give … Your body aches from marching up your mountains / But you always keep pushing on,” Raye sings.
When she sang, “I’m thinking of you, dear, I hope you’re okay,” I thought of a friend who just lost her dad, one going through a divorce, another newly widowed with two young girls, and yet another with a scary medical report. Like Raye, “I said a prayer for you, I hope it’s working.”
The musical style ranges from big band to jazz, ballads to oldies, and top 40 pop tunes. The song “Lifeboat” has a club-friendly beat as she croons, “Criеd myself an ocean / Tryin’ not to drown in it … Lord, sеnd me a lifeboat / Something I could cling to … I don’t know how I’m gonna do this / But I know I’m not givin’ up.” I don’t know if Raye has a specific genre, and I am okay with it. She collaborates with the talents of the London Symphony on “I Know You’re Hurting,” Hans Zimmer on “Click Clack Symphony,” and Al Green on “Goodbye Henry.”
The album feels like an autobiography, a stream of memories both good and bad. The gist is a young woman questioning herself, her industry, and the world, and who (like many of us) still needs a pep talk and time with family and friends. She seemingly wants to bestow on the next generation the strength not to give up. Even at her lowest, she’s optimistic. With vocal chops making the internet buzz, she sings in “Nightingale Lane,” “Somebody loved me once … And someday, somebody will again.”
“This Music May Contain Hope” is an example of how something does not have to be perfectly conservative or religious to exhibit truths, such as community matters. For Raye, it was her parents, grandparents, and an entire host of talented musicians that she names (one by one) in “Fin” at the end of the album. To the tune of a Disney fairy-tale-style song, which the artist calls a “musical hug and an orchestral kiss,” she sings, “The sun has promised to shine / All four beautiful seasons, even if we can’t see it / Hope must always exist.”
Yes, hope must exist, and this album made me hopeful, which means it was titled accurately for this writer who’s listening on repeat.
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Elisha Krauss is a conservative commentator, writer, and speaker who resides in Los Angeles, California, with her husband and their four children. She is an advocate for women’s rights, school choice, and smaller government.
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