Corrine Bailey Rae’s newest album, ‘Black Rainbows’, was released on Sep. 15, which was co-produced with her husband, Steve Brown. This album follows her previous album, ‘The Heart Speaks In Whispers’, released in May of 2016.
Although the album is only 10 songs long with a total time of about 45 minutes, It gives off really impactful and empowerment-like vibes, straying away from her 2006 debut album, ‘Corrine Bailey Rae’, which features her hit ‘Put Your Records On’, which was a chill, relaxed kind of vibe. ‘Black Rainbows’ is quite a big change from that, having many loud jazz tracks lead by a guitar, and others sound more synth lead and a slower feeling.
We open with the nearly 6 minute song, ‘A Spell, A Prayer’ which dives right into the longings of wanting to heal and the importance of connection. The track that stood out the most to me was definitely ‘New York Transit Queen’, which was inspired by archives found at the Stony Island Arts Bank in Chicago. Although the song is less than two minutes long, it’s powerful. Rae’s shouting/singing signifies a powerful message to young women everywhere, cheering the people on who need it the most, clearly through the lyrics “Beauty is in her possession’, emphasizing the beauty that can be found in anyone
Overall, I really enjoyed listening to this album, and I think that it was a slight, but great change for Rae, I haven’t heard much of her music in a while and this was a great way to get me back into it.
