Rae Morris — Someone Out There (2 Feb 2018) N / Score: 7.65

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Rae Morris — Someone Out There (2 Feb 2018)

          ^{Rae Morris — Someone Out There (2 Feb 2018)}•→       The lyrics seem to come from the heart, at their best, pithy and pragmatic but also — and this is great in 2018 — romantically inclined.
Product Description
•→       „‘Someone Out There’ marks a stark sonic shift for Blackpool native Rae Morris. Bold and ambitious, the record focuses in on complex, electronic elements, marrying perfectly with Rae’s soaring and ethereal vocals. Production comes from Fryars, Ariel Rechtshaid (HAIM, Adele), My Riot (London Grammar, Bloc Party, RHODES), Fred Gibson (Brian Eno, RAYE, M.O., Stefflon Don), Buddy Ross (Frank Ocean) and Starsmith (Jess Glynne, Clean Bandit, Kwabs, Ellie Goulding), as well as mixing from Dan Grech (Halsey, Wolf Alice, Lana Del Ray, Regina Spektor). Following the release of her debut album ‘Unguarded’ in January 2015, Rae went completely underground, stripping her creative process back to basics, and began to write exclusively with her previous collaborator Fryars. The tracks they created began to reveal themselves as messages between them, as they fell in love during the writing process. As a result the record contains themes immediately recognisable to any listener and is perfectly in keeping with Rae’s previous work, with its incredibly moving and poignant lyrics, yet it sits in stark sonic contrast to anything she’s created before.”
Birth name: Rachel Anne Morris
Born: 2 September 1993
Location: Blackpool, Lancashire
Occupation: Singer, songwriter
Instruments: Vocals, piano
Genre: Singer~Songwriter, Electronic
Album release: 2 Feb 2018
Record Label: Atlantic
Duration:     41:54
Tracks:
01. Push Me to My Limit     3:24
02. Reborn     4:05
03. Atletico (The Only One)     3:25
04. Do It     3:34
05. Wait for the Rain     3:57
06. Lower the Tone     3:58
07. Physical Form     4:00
08. Dip My Toe     3:39
09. Someone Out There     3:52
10. Rose Garden     3:56
11. Dancing With Character     4:04
℗ 2018 Atlantic Records UK Ltd., A Warner Music Group Company with the exception of tracks 2, 3 and 4, (P) 2017 Atlantic Records UK Ltd., A Warner Music Group Company
?♣?          Feature production from Fryars, Ariel Rechtshaid, My Riot, Fred Gibson, Buddy Ross and Starsmith, as well as mixing from Dan Grech. It’ll see the Blackpool native honing her craft and focusing on complex electronic elements, putting input into all aspects of the record herself.
Review
?♣?          Rising Lancashire pop hopeful has enough personality to break through predictable presentation.
by Thomas H Green, Thursday, 01 February 2018 / Score: ***
?♣?          Rae Morris, a singer from Blackpool, has shinned up the slippery pop biz tree the modern, major label, mainstream way; ultra~managed, co~writes with Clean Bandit, support slots with George Ezra and Tom Odell, vocal collaborations with Bombay Bicycle Club, slow careful “development”. It’s plain old vocational training, really. In terms of raw, gutter~to~the~stars excitement, her career emanates the dizzy appeal of a dentist’s apprenticeship in Dorking. It is to her credit, then, that a good helping of actual character escapes onto her second album, alongside a few decent songs and one absolute peach.
?♣?          Of course, as is de rigeur for 90% of girl~pop stars, rising or full~blown, she’s assisted by an armada of technician~songwriter sorts — Fryars, Ariel Rechtshaid, My Riot, Fred Gibson, Buddy Ross and Starsmith. Who knows how much of the act of creations is hers? At a guess, quite a bit, for the lyrics seem to come from the heart, at their best, pithy and pragmatic but also — and this is great in 2018 — romantically inclined rather than merely going on and on about the physical act of sex as her main desire and selling point.
?♣?          “Someone Out There”, for instance, is a cute piano ballad, with a heart~warming old~fashioned Hollywood quality, but she’s equally capable of snappy modern wordage, such as on the marching love song “Wait For The Rain” where she announces, “Buy me a drink, man/Bring it over here/I don’t want no ice/I’m already cold enough now”. There’s some jolly calypso pop aboard in “Atletico” and “Dip My Toe”, and closing number “Dancing With Character” is a lush likeable thing, but the outstanding cut is the single “Do It” which is cool, catchy, joyful, hopeful pop with a video that’s pleasingly down~to~earth. After a couple of listens, it takes permanent residence in the brain.
?♣?          Someone Out There is more electronic than Morris’s 2015 Top 10 debut album, Unguarded, yet she usually pierces any plasticity and injects a thoughtful, fizzing dose of individuality into it. When she has total control of the means of production, she'll be force to be reckoned with.
?♣?          http://theartsdesk.com/
Review
Sean Ward, 01 Feb, 2018. Rating: 8.5/10
Review: Rae Morris offers an unexpected pop triumph with Someone Out There
?♣?          Rae Morris may have played it safe on her debut, not here. She’s practically unrecognizable on the bold, playful, and ambitious Someone Out There.
?♣?          2017 was a momentous year for pop. It reigned supreme as innovative artists including St. Vincent, Lorde, Fever Ray, Tove Lo and tonnes more reignited convention and presented spectacular and surprising songs. Whilst mega~artists like Dua Lipa stomped across the globe with rules in tow, a pop rebirth was happening far closer to home, the renaissance of Rae Morris.
?♣?          The shy, unassuming singer/songwriter first emerged in the early 20~teens affiliated heavily with the alt~folk scene. Guest appearances with Bombay Bicycle Club and supporting the likes of Lucy Rose and Lianne La Havas firmly placed Rae in the Communion club. Her debut album was a predictably pleasant affair, gorgeous melodies with a twee folk edge yet lacking any real excitement.
?♣?          Arriving at the clichéd challenge of a second record, Someone Out There, Rae boldly appeared on the side of a Ukranian lake claiming “I am reborn’’. An audacious claim for any artist, fortunately she had the majestic first single of the same name to support this claim, a completely addictive slice of art pop. Presented with a thrilling Noel Paul directed video, this was a moment of realisation as the slight songwriter channeled the whimsy of Unguarded into sincere and believable melodrama.
?♣?          Similarly, opener ‘Push Me To My Limit’ pairs celestial delivery with a more assured sense of structure as her vocals are elevated by elegant string and warming brass notes. The buoyant ‘Atletico (The Only One)’ ponders rejection and vulnerability in honest terms before frustration turns to exuberance on its gleeful chorus. Its breezy and dynamic sonar suit the upper echelons of Morris’s range.
?♣?          A peak for pop in 2017, ‘Do It’ acts as a sequel to previous Fryars collab~‘Cold’. A simplistic subject matter drenched in synth reverberation and layers of vocal melodies, it succinctly details the pair’s romantic involvement and simplifies the themes of intimacy and courtship. It moves with such a gleeful pace and sonically captures the giddying, head spinning emotions of truly letting go and submitting to natural instinct. It soars to such giddying heights that you presume this must be the summit of Someone Out There.
?♣?          Thankfully, elsewhere Rae presents her new found confidence. The ‘Bacholerette’~esque ‘Physical Form’ pays worthy tribute to one of dream pop’s most iconic innovators Björk. It incorporates the exaggerated strings of the Icelandic artist’s faultless Homogenic and also captures some of its icy Scandinavian weather. The layering and lyrics point towards a daring direction this young female musician clearly sees her music taking. What always made Björk so startling and simultaneously enthralling was the fact she always had a much wider vision for her music and connected artistry.
?♣?          The continued theme of intimacy is present on two further standout moments, ‘Lower the Tone’ and ‘Dip My Toe’. The first is a future~facing R & B tinged track where Rae leans further into the world of Robyn~like Body Talk electro before glistening synth duels with instinctive, near~orgasmic vocals. Meanwhile ‘Dip My Toe’ has a Carly Rae~‘Cut To The Feeling’ frivolity, its songwriting may be the album’s least inspired moment but thankfully production carries this properly joyous pop track.
?♣?          The final two tracks sign post Rae Morris’s development as an artist. Admitting on her debut that she found it easier to write from an insular perspective, on closing ‘Dancing With Character’ she weaves a charming tale of two elderly Blackpool jive dancers. Hazel sadly passing away, while her husband continues to perform in memorial, reminiscing through movement. Rae moves herself in a similarly affecting manner whilst performing this track onstage and evokes a meek, teenage Kate Bush taking dance classes whilst crafting The Kick Inside. In these final few minutes, Rae not only replicates Kate’s celestial vocals but also her special ability to captivate and connect through story telling.
?♣?          The influence of art~pop matriarchs Björk and Bush is inescapable throughout Someone Out There, yet on ‘Rose Garden’ it manifests most apparently. It is Morris at her bravest as she ties supernatural synth to pure, inhibited vocal acrobatics. It provokes similar feelings of elation as ‘Cloudbusting’ and ‘Violently Happy’ and makes this the album’s standout moment.
?♣?          In a world that is becoming further reliant on streaming for music consumption, artists are encouraged not stray far from sounds that worked well for them previously. Fortunately, Rae Morris has ignored these conventions and created a record so far removed from the safety of Unguarded its near unrecognisable. With Someone Out There Rae Morris has twelve tracks that stand her in early contention for the most unexpected pop triumph of 2018, and earns her the worthy pseudonym Slay Morris. Come through. ?♣?          https://www.thefourohfive.com/
About:
?♣?          British singer/songwriter Rae Morris began writing songs as a teenager in her native Blackpool. Inspired by watching a television performance by fellow Blackpudlian Karima Francis, Morris began crafting her own music. With her strong, warm vocals and gently hooky piano~led folk~pop, she quickly made an impression and was offered a deal by Atlantic when she was just 18. Encouraging the young singer to develop at her own pace, Atlantic put Morris on a singles diet for several years, letting her find her sound in smaller increments while she was still in college. Early singles like “Don’t Go” and “Grow” eventually led to a 2013 EP titled From Above.
?♣?          By 2014 Morris was actively working on her debut album with producer Ariel Rechtshaid (HAIM, Vampire Weekend, Charli XCX), and she released several more EPs leading up to its release. She delivered her full~length debut album, Unguarded, on Atlantic in 2015. Morris spent the next few years touring and writing in preparation for her sophomore album, 2018’s Someone Out There, which ventured further into electronic territory. ~ Timothy Monger
Interview
Rae Morris on Björk, baby alligators and new album ‘Someone Out There’
By Larry Bartleet, Dec 6, 2017
?♣?          http://www.nme.com/music-interviews/rae-morris-interview-someone-out-there-new-album-2168640
Website: http://www.raemorris.co.uk/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/raemorrismusic
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/raemorrisblackpool?v=app_178091127385
Interview, By Jenny Simpson on September 23, 2014
:: http://www.theedgesusu.co.uk/features/2014/09/23/i-still-struggle-with-confidence-an-interview-with-rae-morris-110914/
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