Live Review: RAYE, Cardiff International Arena

01/02/2023

Words and photographs by Ashley Thieme

RAYE supporting Lewis Capaldi at Cardiff international Arena on the 'Broken By Desire To Be Heavenly Sent Tour'.

After various collaboration projects and years of fighting for her position in the music industry, British R&B singer RAYE is dominating the charts with her single Escapism which rose to fame thanks to TikTok. She made the audience aware that it was a huge honour for her to be supporting Lewis Capaldi on his sold out UK arena tour. This support tour is ahead of the release of her long awaited debut album My 21st Century Blues.

RAYE began her set with just her and a piano for three consecutive songs which are originally collaborations from her early career, this being an ode to her early career and supporting herself. The set began with You Don't Know Me which was originally a collaboration between RAYE and producer/DJ Jax Jones. The song was almost unrecognisable as RAYE's unique tone filled the arena - captivating a sold out crowd all on her won - but as the chorus came around the audience began to sing with her. It became evident very early on that RAYE is a force to be reckoned with in the music industry, she is a woman on a mission to claim her position at the top. We then heard Secrets, from producer/DJ Regard and RAYE had a whole new sound as we hear how RAYE makes it her own with complete creative control. It was evident here that the stripped back style of these songs brought joy to RAYE and the crowd, bringing everyone together and creating a connection between artist and audience. Lastly for this stripped back section was BED, which RAYE created with Joel Corry and the infamous David Guetta. This song was an audience favourite of this section, whether it is the reminiscence of summer or a particular time in life, this song seemed to have connected with the audience, showing them who RAYE is.

The simple set design of a black backdrop with her stylised name was brought to life as a brass band, drummer, guitarist, bassist, and pianist joined RAYE on the stage to create a sound that would bring the remainder of her songs to life. A voice like RAYE's is hard to come by, with elements of the sound of Amy Winehouse mixed with modern pop, her music is infectious. Oscar Winning Tears, from her upcoming album won the crowd over as everyone began moving from the welcome change in tempo. The band complimented RAYE's voice perfectly as she commanded the audience. The Thrill Is Gone came next which was released along with Escapism as leading tracks ahead of album release so some of the audience were familiar with the sing. This was my personal favourite of the night as it came with high energy and the crowd could be seen dancing along. Ice Cream Man came next which RAYE noted recounts a time in her life where she was in a toxic relationship, and encouraged the audience that it is possible to come out of the other side of this situation. Worth it, a song with a soulful sound gave the band a chance to come into their own and the guitar in this song showed the element of funk from her upcoming album.

RAYE on stage at CIA with her band.

RAYE introduced the penultimate song Environmental Anxiety by telling the audience that the current state of the environment and global warming makes her anxious in her daily life as she reads the news and takes in the prospect of a dying world. This is a notion that connected with me personally as there is only so much we as individuals can do and it is systemic change that is ultimately needed and it clearly connected with other members of the audience too as they turned to each other and nodded heads in agreement with RAYE. The final song Buss It Down brought the whole audience together and got them involved as there was a call and response section in the song. RAYE dubbed the audience her own personal choir and was joyful as the whole song came together. Escapism was the final song she played for the enamoured crowd and it created an excited atmosphere as this is the song the crowd have been listening to multiple times a day on TikTok, with a sped up version of the song having over 600 thousand videos and the original version having over 250 thousand videos. Along with this success on TikTok, the song peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, giving RAYE her first solo number one single. The whole crowd knew the words to the catchy chorus by heart as phones were raised to capture the moment and share on social media.

RAYE's performance truly captured her background and career journey, beginning with the stripped back versions of her early work and ending with the high tempo new material, we saw how she is now in control of her work, releasing her new album. She really is a force to be reckoned with in the music industry and has all the makings of a global star.