The term “cinematic” is too often thrown around by critics to describe music that doesn’t quite earn it, but with composer Hans Zimmer and the London Symphony Orchestra on board, Raye’s This Music May Contain Hope actually delivers the goods. The British singer-songwriter sets the scene with a spoken intro set to lush, melodramatic strings, while the aptly titled “Fin” closes the album with what sounds like an end-credits theme song.
This Music May Contain Hope also reaffirms Raye’s refusal to be pigeonholed into any one genre. Throughout, she explores not just classical music, but French chanson (“I Will Overcome”) and big band (“I Hate the Way I Look Today”). Elsewhere, “Fields,” an ode to the signer’s granddad, is underpinned by gospel tones, while the Al Green-assisted “Goodbye Henry” draws on American soul.
As much as Raye obviously admires the music of the past, though, her songs are very much rooted in the present, with references abound to modern conveniences like Uber and smartphones (“Where once I lived in the palm of his hand,” she sings on “The WhatsApp Shakespeare”). That song and “Beware…The South London Lover Boy” cast a cynical eye toward modern fuckbois, and the hit “Where Is My Husband!” sees Raye longing for marriage as an alternative to nights spent alone doomscrolling.
On the anthemic “I Will Overcome,” Raye is trapped by fame, comparing her plight to that of Amy Winehouse: “Some spit through their keyboards I’ll never amount/And the evil and insults/The arrows from your tongue/Is the same devils you tortured her with anyhow.” Raye starts out in a similar mental space on “Click Clack Symphony,” only here she finds solace in friendship.
The bombast of songs like these and the Jim Steinman-worthy “I Know Your Hurting” place Raye’s troubles in a grand context, making them feel even more heightened. Tracks like “Joy” and “Life Boat” tip over into Instagram-ready platitudes (the latter features countless voices declaring, “I’m not giving up yet”), but Raye is refreshingly unconcerned with sounding corny. On This Music May Contain Hope, maximalism proves to be an effective cure for the loneliness epidemic.
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