We’ve all definitely heard RAYE sing. If not that, you’ve heard some of the songs she’s worked on, with writing credits to songs sung by Beyoncé, Zara Larsson, Charli xcx, Little Mix, Ellie Goulding, and Madison Beer.
Coming back from her global banger and hit song WHERE IS MY HUSBAND!, which has accumulated over 6.5 million streams on Spotify in the song’s mere 6 months since being released, she has finally, finally released her sophomore studio album, This Music May Contain Hope., purposely styled for the album and song titles to all end in punctuation. Along with her gorgeous vocals and songwriting, she has featuring credits to Al Green, Hans Zimmer, the London Symphony Orchestra, and her family. She includes her two younger sisters, Amma and Absolutley (who both have their own solo music careers), and her Grandpa Michael. She has written 17 songs for this collection, releasing three singles, WHERE IS MY HUSBAND!, Nightingale Lane., and Click Clack Symphony. (feat. Hans Zimmer).
Track 1: Intro: Girl Under The Grey Cloud.
RAYE paints a picture of her world so well with this, well, prologue, I suppose. Told dramatically by RAYE herself and featuring music from the London Symphony Orchestra and a voicenote from her grandma, she tells the story of how the album first came into fruition, noting her rainy walk at precisely 2:27 A.M. back to her Paris hotel, and how she had no luck in finding a date at the bar she had been coming from. RAYE definitely wants you to listen to her album from beginning to end, starting with her “setting the scene.”
Track 2: I Will Overcome.
The album jumps straight from the intro to chapter one with no space to even breathe. Quite literally. The song opens with RAYE softly singing the words “I’ll Overcome” twice, with backing vocals adding light support to the delicate intro. The song switches the vibe almost instantaneously, adding a drum beat and bass, and RAYE almost speaks about being “500 steps away from the front door” and hearing her heels clicking in her ears. She sings two verses before diving into a pre-chorus about online haters comparing her to Amy Winehouse. She almost practically yells at you that she will overcome the hate and her sadness.
Track 3: Beware… The South London Lover Boy.
This feels like a warning wrapped in a flirtation. RAYE leans into storytelling here, almost teasing the listener with a character who’s equal parts charming and dangerous. The production has this slick, late-night energy – like you know you shouldn’t text him back, but you absolutely will. There’s a bitterness under the wit, though, which makes it feel less like a love song and more like a cautionary tale.
Track 4: The WhatsApp Shakespeare.
This song had… faces, almost? It kept switching the vibe, and really, that’s what makes it work. One second it’s playful and almost satirical, the next it’s sharp and cutting. RAYE plays with the idea of modern romance vs. poetic love, comparing dry texts to grand declarations. It’s chaotic in a very intentional way.
Track 5: Winter Woman.
Woah. There were such clever lyrics in this song, like “Cold girls get by / cold girls won’t cry / I’ll become the winter woman,” and she’s really just describing her loneliness. She even pipes in a bit of Vivaldi’s Winter in the middle of the song. RAYE keeps bouncing between different emotions in this song, and it’s flawless how quickly she can turn the song around.
Track 6: Click Clack Symphony. (feat. Hans Zimmer)
This is where the album goes full cinematic. Featuring Hans Zimmer was already a bold move, but it pays off. The ticking, “click clack” rhythm builds tension throughout the song, almost like a clock counting down, while the orchestral elements explode underneath her vocals. It feels urgent, dramatic, and slightly unhinged – in the best way possible.
Track 7: I Know You’re Hurting.
I have to admit, I was very skeptical of this song during the first minute or so, since it seemed a bit boring. It was kind of lacking in the vocals and instrumentals, but I was entirely jumpscared by the powerful chorus that slammed into my headphones. 10/10, it was amazing.
Track 8: Life Boat.
She took audio from so many different people saying “I’m not giving up yet,” and laid it over an amazing techno beat, which is totally not how I imagined the song coming out. It begins quietly, with yet another heartwarming voice note from her grandparents.
Track 9: I Hate The Way I Look Today.
This one feels painfully real. There’s no metaphor to hide behind – just raw insecurity. It’s the kind of song that makes you pause because you’ve probably felt it before, even if you didn’t want to admit it.
Track 10: Goodbye Henry. (feat. Al Green)
I just love how she includes so much of her humor in her lyrics and how she introduces Al Green in the song itself. She opens with dreamy guitars and humorous lyrics: “This is a sad song / Though it feels happy / It is not happy at all / In fact, it makes me so, so sad to sing this song.” Just going off of what we know from past songs by RAYE, she’s no stranger to sadness and heartbreak, but she’s also very familiar with happy songs and sing-in-the-shower worthy bops (WHERE IS MY HUSBAND!, Born Again, Escapism., etc.). I think that this song really tricks your brain into thinking that she’s singing about a happy topic, when really, she’s coping with unimaginable heartbreak. It could totally be related to Nightingale Lane. (see below), but there is no evidence to support this claim.
Track 11: Nightingale Lane.
This track was absolutely heart-shattering. The first time I actually heard the song was on the SiriusXM channel Life With John Mayer in my dad’s car, where my headphones coincidentally died just in time for my ears to be blessed by her opening monologue: “This is a song about the greatest heartbreak I have ever known.” Little did I know what I would be getting myself into. This song absolutely broke my heart, with the layered vocals in the chorus, to the earth-shaking vibrato in the first verse and pre-choruses, but what got me the hardest were the vocals. RAYE sings so vulnerably, and constantly belts as if she’s singing in the shower to herself. The song tells the story of a horrible break-up and how she cannot love again, since she can’t find someone to “knock [her] walls down.” She breaks into an operatic bridge, then finishes with an astonishing belt, before the song comes to a tragic end, with the last words being “Oh, Nightingale Lane,” which really lets us take a look into her world.
Track 12: Skin & Bones.
This song’s meaning is so simple. RAYE knows her worth and puts her foot down, sharing how hard it is to find a man who actually wants to spend time with you. For her, the lyric “the bar is on the floor” is how she gives an example of the low effort and repeated disappointment that makes modern dating so exhausting.
Track 13: WHERE IS MY HUSBAND!
Still as chaotic and iconic as ever. This is the song that really launched RAYE into some serious fame. Even within the album, it stands out as this burst of personality and humor. It almost acts like a moment of relief before the final emotional stretch, reminding you of RAYE’s range – and her humor – adding a playful vibe to her record.
Track 14: Fields. (feat. Grandad Michael)
This one feels deeply personal. Featuring her grandfather adds a layer of intimacy that you can’t fake. It’s less about heartbreak and more about legacy and connection.
Track 15: Joy. (feat. Amma and Absolutely)
There’s something really beautiful about this track. Maybe it’s that she featured her sisters, or maybe it’s the gorgeous way RAYE portrayed sadness. Either way, she really portrayed depression and loneliness very well. Bravo!
Track 16: Happier Times Ahead.
This feels like a promise more than a statement. It’s not overly optimistic, but it is hopeful. RAYE doesn’t pretend everything is fixed – she just suggests that maybe, eventually, it will be. It’s subtle, but it lands.
Track 17: Fin.
RAYE ended her second album how she ended her first: by thanking all the people who made her mixtape possible and acknowledging her team for all their help.
All in all, I rate this album a 10/10. The vocals, the tracks, even the beat, all get a chef’s kiss.
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love this sm! you did a great job reagan <3
I only knew “WHERE IS MY HUSBAND!” But now I’ll probably listen to the whole album