LA’s Willow Raye leads with a gorgeous and mildly raspy vocal on this mellow, trip-hop inspired new single. The track is spacious and breathy in every way, utilising only a few key elements initially to build a calming yet thoughtful soundscape – within which these lyrics connect in a notably upfront and personal way.
As things build, the beat hits in a brilliantly creative manner – the whole thing starts to become a refreshing new take on alternative pop. The building blocks each offer a level of freshness, a sort of experimental and partly tribal groove that could easily play the role of both the EDM track that energizes and the pop ambiance that soothes and seeks to offer understanding.
At only three minutes long, this feels like a bigger release in some ways – the various sections merge into one ongoing journey, building a rhythmic yet easy-going pulse that quickly fills the room with colourful originality. On top of this, the song itself has a definite air of something familiar. The style feels well-rooted in the pop-dance fusion approach of recent years. Raye’s voice though, even with its flawless ability to deliver – whether whispered or a little more passionately – offers a definite flicker of character that you soon come to recognise.
Though the production on the track is a major selling point for what makes it stand out, there are also hints of individuality in that voice, which makes you hopeful that future releases will continue on down a similarly expressive and creatively free pathway. By the sound of this release, that crisp and professional finish, combined with the skill and and heart that’s gone into it – there’s a good chance that plenty more music is on the way.
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