UMC.org Music Review
Corinne Bailey Rae: Corinne Bailey Rae
Label: Capitol
Sound/Style: Unselfconscious pop-styled fusion of old school soul, jazz and R&B
By Steve Morley
UMC.org—In the space of two years, Corinne Bailey Rae has gone from virtual unknown to Grammy-nominated sensation in her native United Kingdom and beyond. Her self-titled 2006 debut was recently re-released, presumably to strengthen its toehold on American shores, where Bailey Rae is gaining a head of steam with her hybrid of modern R&B, pop and classic soul.
Because the singer absorbed her varied influences naturally over many years, she’s arrived at an organic mixture that broadly evokes the 1970s without resorting to period revivalism. When her music sounds “old school,” it’s often because it leans more heavily on living, breathing musicianship than on computerized production techniques.
Her songs are slow burners that don’t jump on your head and demand attention like modern commercial fare tends to do. Instead, they quietly beckon in the spirit of jazzy and subdued artists like Roberta Flack or Sade. Like the era from which it so heavily draws, the music is both romantic and sensual. This could be a deterrent for the modest, though Bailey Rae seems almost demure compared to purveyors of today’s harder-edged hip-hop. She’s far more cosmopolitan than urban, and her lyrics mesh emotions, reminiscences and observations into something that can work at more than one level. Though married and in her late twenties, the artist fluidly recalls phases of girlhood and adolescence, along with infatuation, discovery, and the host of confused feelings that accompany growth.
The front yard party depicted in “I’d Like To” presents memories of good times as well as the awkward first stirrings of romantic yearning: “Growing up we didn't have a lot of money/ Used to spend my summer having parties on the drive/ Plastic cups for rum and punch, eating chicken that's hot and sweet/ All the women discussing what love is like, ooh you know the way I mean/ And I'm just sitting watching hoping the boys will call for me…”
Beneath the enticing but shallow surface of “Put Your Records On,” she unpacks an emotionally complex tale that hints at the role of music as a buffer from fear and insecurity: “Maybe sometimes, we feel afraid/ But it’s alright/ Girl, put your records on/ Tell me your favorite song/ You go ahead, let your hair down.”
With her ebullient, devil-may-care chorus, she offers the same release for her listeners, passing the joy forward.
The singer’s nod to her religious upbringing is subtle and personal. On the intimate “Like A Star,” she muses about the unique safety and transformation she finds in relationship with her Creator: “I wonder why it is I won’t let my guard down/ To anyone but you/ We do it all the time/ Blowing out my mind/ Just like a star across my sky/ Just like an angel off the page/ You have appeared to my life/ Feel like I'll never be the same.”
“Butterfly” honors the singer’s mother and, by extension, shows how healthy parents can reflect God’s loving gift of freedom when children are given room to find themselves. In the case of Corinne Bailey Rae, that liberty has led to a beguiling if still maturing new voice, and a promising career based on a person rather than a persona.
Audio Clips
"Like A Star"
"Enchantment"
"Put Your Records On"
"'Till It Happens to You"
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