Rae Morris - Someone Out There

Rae Morris
Someone Out There
2018
Spotify

Back in 2014 when Rae Morris' debut solo record came out it received a great deal of critical praise. It seemed like she was the next to take up residence with some of the other powerful female producers like Lorde and Grimes. Since Unguarded however Morris has all but vanished taking almost four years to release this newest record Someone Out There. It was time well spent because this album is chalked full of plot twists and excellent production. The first track is perfectly fine and serves as a slow lean in to what you are going to be getting on the record, but the second song Reborn is where things really take off. The song is minimal and glitchy at some points then big and expansive in others creating this fantastic push pull. With sophomore records being such a minefield you would expect Morris to play it a little safer but she is all out from the first note. She allows for the big production to shine like Grimes with a better voice, just slightly less edgy. With something this artistic and production driven you would expect the vocal performance to suffer a little, but it absolutely soars. He lyrics also shine through incredibly through this beautiful production. On "Wait for the Rain" she says "I don't want no ice, I'm already cold enough now/ in our last days I won't lie with you/ And you would never even sensed the end was coming soon/ Baby, what you doing now?/ Acting like you don't even care that the world outside is broken down/ and my lungs have no air" showing that this record is about more than just slick production, she is able to infuse some real palpable emotion throughout.

The production gets even deeper on "Rose Garden" invoking some deep house vibes and at times sounding a bit like the Deep House DJ Nora en Pure but even bigger. The albums closer "Dancing With Character" takes the idea of a dance track to new heights by pushing the idea forward and taking it to love and marriage. It is a whirl wind of a ride between love loss and aging the likes you simply do not hear in dance music what so ever. As the piano plays and she says "He'll never stop dancing until He's back with Her" it hits you right in the gut, that sense of losing someone you were so in line with and how heartbreaking that can be. The 41 minutes just sail by with tons of twists and turns to get you full engaged. This album is an incredibly rich surprise and really blows you away at every single turn. This album serves to show that when something is done well with real emotion it is relentless in how good it can be. Don't sleep on miss Morris, she's bringing some really incredible stuff here.

8.9 out of 10