Yahoo Finance RAYE reveals how her new EP helped heal her broken heart
Love and loss have long been the subject of many a hit record, however, for singer/songwriter RAYE her soon-to-be released EP not only features songs all about heartbreak, but actually helped mend her broken heart.
The singer revealed on White Wine Question Time that she decided to creatively document the whole process of heartbreak, which ultimately helped heal her.
“It really helped me,” she told Kate Thornton. “I wrote each song at each stage.
“The first one is Love Me Again, which I've already released. I wrote it while I was on tour with Khalid and I should have been having the time of my life… But, I just broke down after a show one day.
Hear RAYE chat about sexism in the music industry and why we need to stop cancel culture in the full episode of White Wine Question Time below:
“I was sitting on the floor next to the tour bus – everyone was inside – and I was crying. It was sad. I made this song and I was like, 'I'm going to document my healing process, because right now I feel so horrible.’'”
RAYE, who says she’s super proud her musical self-help album, believes heartbreak is akin to the grief you feel when someone dies, so she decided to dedicate the project to the seven stages of grieving.
Read more: The 5 common physical symptoms of heartbreak
She said: “It just takes you through the pain in the beginning, especially if you don't want it, and then the final stage where I'm like, 'You know, I'm over it – finally.'”
The seven stages of heartbreak, according to the 22-year-old singer, include shock, denial, pain, guilt, anger, ending with the upward turn as you work towards acceptance of the situation – somewhere RAYE says she definitely is now.
She told Thornton: “I’ve just reached it - like I would say a month, two months ago. Definitely in the clear, like I'm done. I wish him all the best, but I'm like goodbye. Your loss.”
The most recent release from the EP, Natalie Don’t, is about that moment when your former love meets someone new. While it’s very much about RAYE’s own experience, she was heavily influenced by another famous heartbreak song – Jolene by Dolly Parton.
“I remember when I first heard that song,” RAYE said about the Parton hit.
Read more: Singer RAYE on why cancel culture needs to stop
“I was so young, but I had it in my little MP3 and I was like, ‘What is this?’ The story is so moving. You could immediately put yourself into the shoes of her. Everyone's had their own Jolene moment.”
Jolene even gets a namecheck in the bridge of Natalie Don’t, and while it’s about a very unhappy time, RAYE is very glad she wrote it.
“This is why I love being a writer, because if I wasn't, I don't know how I would've handled that situation,” she laughed.
“Maybe I would've egged someone's house. Maybe I would've gone crazy – I'm a little bit reckless sometimes! This is why it's really great that I'm able to channel these emotions into something. I'm really happy that Natalie did what Natalie did, because now I have Natalie Don’t and I love it!”
Hear RAYE talk more about her career, including why she wants to see more women working behind the scenes in the music industry, in this week’s White Wine Question Time. Listen now on iTunes and Spotify.
