Raelle's souful journey with debut EP 'Wake up Sunshine'

Southeast London’s soul artist Raelle just dropped her highly-anticipated debut EP ‘Wake up Sunshine’, boasting four tracks of flowing, velvety warmth that explore self-realisation and the emotions that come with it. Times of the day are used as track titles, marking mood and acting as metaphors for feelings of love, loss and uncertainty.

In the EP, Raelle’s vocal prowess sits proudly on neo-soul goodness and 70s inspired arrangements and textures. In the spirit of Roy Ayers, Etta James, and Nina Simone, Raelle found that soul was a way to share experiences, creating a deep emotional meeting point. Growing up as the only Black family in a white neighbourhood, she and her sisters often felt isolated. The girls took solace in making music together and Amy Winehouse’s ‘Frank’ album sparked some of that creativity. Surrounded by Motown at home, Raelle learnt to play the piano and trained as a classical singer.

The lead track on ‘Wake up Sunshine’ is a new song of the same name – a gentle wake up call and prompt to move forward with life. It’s followed by previous singles ‘Purple Skies’ and ‘Sunrise‘, a track with a shimmering waterfall piano riff, which Raelle says is about how, “life can get in your head, make you forget and confuse the things that are important. The journey can sometimes seem never ending and the failures can really get you down.” The track gained attention from BBC Introducing, BBC Radio 1xtra and was selected to play on DJ Target’s UK Touchdown Tour.

On ‘Purple Skies‘ she shows that she’s unafraid of vulnerability, flexing to the top of her vocal range, layering Bossa Nova and Neo-Soul influences over a Carter Sanders R&B beat. Meanwhile the healing properties of last track ‘Sundown’ employs lyricism about strength and perseverance.

‘Wake up Sunshine’ is out now via DMY.

Listen on your preferred streaming service here.

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