Well Really!
- Team Yara - Music
- Jul 2
- 2 min read
Your weekly dose of sound medicine.
'Music doesn’t just fill silence — it fills us.'
Artist of the week: RAYE
Vinyl Vibes: RAYE’s "My 21st Century Blues"
Recommended listening for a bold night in.
An album to play front to back, with nothing on your to-do list except feeling something real.
When RAYE walked onto the BRITs stage in 2024 and swept six awards in one night, it wasn’t just a career milestone: it was history. She became the most awarded artist in a single ceremony, taking home British Album of the Year for My 21st Century Blues, British Artist of the Year, and Song of the Year for “Escapism”. But even more than accolades, it felt like a reckoning. After years of being underestimated, sidelined, and told “no,” RAYE said yes to herself, and created one of the most defiant, emotionally rich albums of the decade.
My 21st Century Blues isn’t just a collection of tracks; it’s a confessional, a confrontation, a spell-book of pain, power, and poetry. You can hear echoes of Amy Winehouse in the smoky phrasing, and a deeper lineage still, back to the bold clarity of Lauryn Hill, the heartbreak of Etta James, the no-nonsense power of Nina Simone. This is R&B and blues reimagined for women who are done shrinking themselves to fit in.
Songs like “Hard Out Here” and “Ice Cream Man” aren’t just beautifully constructed, they’re devastating in what they reveal. And “Escapism”? That’s not a single; it’s a sermon. A howl of release.
Here’s why it deserves your evening: streaming this album is fine, but it doesn’t do it justice. Buy the vinyl. Sit with it. Side A to Side B. Let the static and richness of analogue wrap around you as RAYE takes you through addiction, heartbreak, rage, and survival, all while sounding effortless. The production blooms on vinyl; the strings swell bigger, the bass lands deeper, and her voice? Her voice stays with you like the scent of rain.
This isn’t background music. It’s centre stage music. A candlelit kitchen. A long bath. A solitary dance in your dressing gown. You’ll find something of yourself in it.
So go on. Give My 21st Century Blues the space it deserves.
Skip the playlist. Buy the vinyl.
Buy The Vinyl on Amazon
Listen Now on Spotify
Fill your evening with dazzling blues, soulful confessions, and the bold echo of a generation reclaiming the record groove: https://open.spotify.com/album/3U8n8LzBx2o9gYXvvNq4uH
Comments