Beyond the British album chart, the colossal ‘This Music May Contain Hope’ by RAYEShould resurface around Christmas. She has more than enough material: among the ballads, we would bet on ‘I Know You’re Hurting’. Among the upbeat tracks, she has already selected the euphoric and joyful ‘Joy’.
The track that links RAYE with her two sisters, Amma and Absolutely, both singers and also backing vocalists on her tour, is a display of rhythm-forward happiness, with brassy tones reminiscent of Michael Jackson and a Motown-inspired sound. All of this fusion blends gospel choirs with a sample from ‘Damn Right I Am Somebody’ by Fred Wesley & The J.B.’s, not the easiest to pinpoint in the groove.
In ‘Joy’, which on the album’s sequence follows the long storm, RAYE proclaims that she will no longer suffer and that she now only wants joy in her life: after an entire night of crying, a new day arrives in the morning. The gospel influence yields passages as spiritual as “Cover me with Your feathers, Father / Shelter me with Your wings”, although RAYE keeps the message universal.
With a release date once announced on Wikipedia for September 22—a date that has not yet arrived—‘Joy’ already has its own music video, which will bring a smile to you from the very first seconds.
The video, starring RAYE and her sisters, follows the trio through London aboard the “Joymobile”, surprising various people with sunflowers and capturing their reactions. ‘Joy’ is an electric jolt in the form of a song, an injection of happiness that arrives just when ‘This Music May Contain Hope’ needs it most.
