Yesterday, Raury released new track Friends featuring Rage Against The Machine‘s Tom Morello, and today has followed up with the video. The clip is a real good time, documenting the artist’s recent road trip with a friend from Atlanta to Chicago. The pair ditch a plane flight to trek their way cross country with the help of twitter followers in a showing of camaraderie and connectivity.
The trip commences with the duo walking up to a drive thru window for some pre-trip sustenance (which are clearly more liberal than Australia when it comes to modes of transport), and make their way to fair grounds and skate spots with a long cast of companions. The trip culminates with a game of kickball in hometown Windy City, where fans came out in force to meet the young celeb.
The adventure is joyful and perfectly matches the uplifting melody with a delightful touch of the 80’s. There’s a certain A-ha element about the whole affair, but not enough to cross the border to cheesy.
It is the second single off upcoming album All We Need, due out next month, and further testament that Raury is full of talent and surprises. Our guess is that he is destined for very big things this year!
You can check out our interview and photos from his visit earlier this year.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXGwDB3mWn0]
Here’s the tracklist for his album:
- “All We Need”
- “Revolution”
- “Forbidden Knowledge” feat. Big K.R.I.T.
- “Woodcrest Manor II”
- “Cpu” feat. RZA
- “Devil’s Whisper”
- “Peace Prevail”
- “Crystal Express”
- “Love is Not a Four Letter Word”
- “Her”
- “Trap Tears” feat. Key!
- “Mama”
- “Kingdom Come”
- “Friends” feat. Tom Morello
Wunderkind Raury has been defying genres and blowing minds since releasing his debut mixtape Indigo Child last year. Today, he took to social media to announced a release date for his highly anticipated debut album, All We Need, due out October 16th. The fourteen track effort features appearances from Big K.R.I.T, RZA and a very left of centre Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine, but overall it’s surprisingly and perhaps boldly) void of other big collabs.
First taste from the record, Devil’s Whisper, took the tribal rhythms and dark chants of the EP and melded with the singer’s evolved rap style – and then splashed some synths in just for good measure. Second track Friends has just dropped and is entirely different. Soulful, melodic indie-pop, it features Morello on guitar, and a spritely, dreamy melody. One thing is for sure: this record, nor Raury, will ever be pigeonholed.
Check out the live rip of the Friends premiere, taken from Annie Mac’s show on BBC1 Radio.
Earlier this year, we chatted to Raury about his musical journey to date. The artist expressed a maturity and conscience about his craft that was well beyond his years:
“I’m not releasing music and dropping tracks to gain a Grammy, or to get the most money or to sell a million albums. My goal for the next five or ten years is to affect one to five million lives for the better. That’s the goal, that’s why I make music: to influence lives for the better. I’m really aware that what you listen to, if you want, it becomes who you are. And I wanna make really good music. Most of the songs are about self-determination and believing in yourself. A lot of people don’t feel that way. So if you’re trying to be the best, a gardener or whatever, keep pushing.”
We look forward to seeing what insights the album offers next month. In the mean time you can check out the full interview here, and some stunning photos from an afternoon spent with the artist here.
Tracklist:
- “All We Need”
- “Revolution”
- “Forbidden Knowledge” feat. Big K.R.I.T.
- “Woodcrest Manor II”
- “Cpu” feat. RZA
- “Devil’s Whisper”
- “Peace Prevail”
- “Crystal Express”
- “Love is Not a Four Letter Word”
- “Her”
- “Trap Tears” feat. Key!
- “Mama”
- “Kingdom Come”
- “Friends” feat. Tom Morello
Raury – Fly ft. Malik Shakur
On April 21 Raury released a moving new music video for his song Fly. In the description he wrote, “Deep in my heart, I know everything is going to be alright.”
Fly deals with racism and police brutality against African Americans with a disarming honesty. It is paired back and raw, almost childish. The music video takes a similar vein, using stop motion paper cutouts to show the history of African slave trade in America and the racism that has come with that.
The last verse reads like a modern day appropriation of Martin Luther Kings speech; ‘I hope my son dreams to be mountains… I hope he never becomes a hashtag… I hope that no man in no uniform, assumes he’s reaching for something in his pocket… I hope he flies’. Sobering stuff.
Holy Holy – You Cannot Call for Love Like a Dog
Holy Holy have been killing it recently. They’ve just been announced on the Splendour in the Grass line up and are about to commence a massive tour of the UK and Europe, not to mention serious radio play for their latest single You Cannot Call for Love Like a Dog. It’s unsurprising – the song is seriously good, with some stunning drums and guitar work. They’ve now released the accompanying video clip, so intensely Australian it makes you want to go out to the bush, sink a couple VB longnecks and grow a big bushy beard. Well at least that’s what it made me want to do…
I expect good things from these guys.
Sia – Fire Meet Gasoline
Perhaps it is because Sia has such a reputation for unique or controversial music videos, but her latest clip for Fire Meet Gasoline seems a little soft.
Featuring Heidi Klum as the lead female, the film starts out in a picturesque countryside. Klum and her lover – YES, that is Oberyn from Game of Thrones (RIP), real name Pedro Pascal – drive around, occasionally pausing to embrace, clearly moved by the beauty of the landscape around them. Interspersed with this are shots of a sad, disillusioned Klum burning their country house to the ground.
In the final scene she walks out of the flames and puts on the recognisable Sia wig. Cut to a wolf. I’m not joking, it really does randomly cut to a wolf…
I’m sure the clip does have a greater meaning. Perhaps this is a metaphor for the birth of ‘Sia’ as she is known today, a birth of fire. Unfortunately it just doesn’t resonate as strongly her other work.
OverDoz – F**k Yo’ DJ ft. A$AP Ferg
OverDoz have been pumping out some awesome tunes lately and this is no exception. The group spends most of the music video bouncing around in front of various different coloured backgrounds. The film is simple, but they manage to capture that same laidback, slightly daggy sense of humour in their music video that they do in their lyrics.
And just in case you missed the irony and mistakenly thought these guys actually were actually taking themselves seriously, they’ve included a little bloopers section at the end.
Hey everyone, here’s your weekly playlist. We start off with one very heavy trap remix, but fear not – everything else is a lot more mellow. We’ll dance between mellow electronic, sweeping synths, a little funk and a little indie, before ending the mix on two powerful songs, both dedicated to Mike Brown.
- TNGHT, Acrylics (RL Grime edit)
Getting this track out of the way first, because I may be the only one who actually likes a song this heavy. I love TNGHT way too much, and I’ve recently started getting into RL Grime. He just dropped this remix (or edit, remake, redo, whatever) a testament to his talent. This won’t be for everyone, but it gets me going every time and I fucking love it. - Argonaut&Wasp, Higher Ground
Okay, you might need something a little softer after that, so here’s Higher Ground. Clean and slick, the Vermont duo’s unique blend of subdued funk and soul-infused neo-disco (is that a thing?) get me going, and I don’t usually like stuff this subdued and disco-oriented. Their debut EP is dropping next month, and I’m getting pretty excited about it. - The Outdoor Type, Are You Happy?
I don’t think you’ll find much harmonica on these playlists, but there’s a first for everything, right? The Outdoor Type have really nicely blended a traditional folk sound with a more indie feel, creating a jingly jangly tune that’s both fun and wistful. I love the blend of distortion and acoustic guitar – it’s not easy to get it right, but this song works. - Pond, Zond
Does this track need description or review? It’s POND, you know it’s good. Zond is a weird word, but somehow the exact perfect word to describe the trippy, fuzzed-up psych-pop that it is. These guys go from strength to strength, and it’s easy to see why. - Oceaan, Veritas (Hoodlem remix)
I was recently introduced to Oceaan, and fell in love very quickly. To have been remixed by Melbourne’s Hoodlem, is a match made in heaven. It’s swish, sparse and strange. I can’t really pinpoint a way to describe this. The electronic layers are swift and punchy, while the brassy layers are funky as hell. - Spirit Faces, Cloudplay ft. BUOY (Time Pilot Remix)
I posted about the original track here a while ago, and Time Pilot’s remix gives it a whole new facelift. Managing to somehow traipse between laid-back and all out insane, the breathy melody anchors the track down, while glitches, flickery percussion and immense bass start bursting at the seams beneath. So strange, but so cool. - Eves The Behaviour, TV
Formerly known as just Eves, Eves The Behaviour’s new single is seductive, powerful and gloriously dark. The husky melody is rich and really strong, the chorus is so satisfyingly explosive. One of my favourite tracks this week, I cannot wait to see this live at Laneway. - Art of Sleeping, Crazy (Tom Scary remix)
The original of this song was in my top ten songs of the year, so a Tom Iansek remix? Hell fucking yes. The entire vibe is completely different, which for some reason I didn’t expect. The melody vs. beat contrast has intensified, a signature Iansek sound, and the wavering melody shuffles around a lot more than the original, tapering off into almost Jeff Buckley territory. - Jarryd James, Do You Remember
Almost out of thin air, Jarryd James and his new single has been the talk of the blog town over the past couple days. It only takes one listen of Do You Remember to see why. There’s a sinister feel to the melody, coupled with a deep beat, and beautiful plucks in between it all. The chorus is fucking great too. Really keen to see what’s next for this guy. - Jonathan Emile, Heaven Help Dem ft. Kendrick Lamar
Opening with a dedication to Mike Brown and Trayvon Martin, this is a strong track on every single beat. The kind of rap you really need to hear a few times in order to really grasp the lyrics. Such a sharp flow, with the help of Kendrick Lamar of course, and a simple but cool backing rhythm. A really powerful song that I’ve listened to a LOT over the past couple days. - Raury, Fly ft. Malik Shakur
Last but absolutely not least, another tune written about recent events in the USA. Raury was my favourite discovery of 2014, and an obvious artist to watch this year. This is a really beautiful, simple ballad, written right after Raury found out that Darren Wilson was not convicted for the murder of Mike Brown. It’s incredibly wonderful. I’m just going to leave it here, just listen to it.
Everyone’s favourite rapper-with-an-ice-cream-tattooed-on-his-face-but-despite-his-obvious-insanity-is-actually-a-fucking-great-rapper, Gucci Mane, has been in prison for the past few months. Luckily for us though, it hasn’t stopped him from releasing new music. I’m not exactuly sure whether the track was created pre-prison or if GM has somehow been able to do this from behind bars, but I guess it doesn’t really matter.
Dead People ft. Raury has just dropped. It’s fairly stripped-back and simple, with a supporting loop that clearly has roots in trap, but with a softened intensity. The beat, similarly, is basic and heavy, yet slightly muffled. The simplicity works so well, leaving the perfect amount of space to focus on the lyrics.
And boy, lyrics they are. I got a pocket full of dead people/ evil voice in my head/ tellin’ me to get this bread…. that’s just the chorus.
And Raury, oh, Raury. Raury’s verse is wholly, entirely hypnotic. I haven’t heard him rap so quickly before; his silver tongue is slick and razor sharp, artfully zipping through a whippet of a verse. His liquid flow slithers under the radar, and you can really hear the Andre 3000 influence on his lilt. Read our interview with him here.
Anyway, that’s enough of me, you gotta just listen to this:
If you aren’t yet familiar with Raury, I guarantee that’s about to change. You most likely know him from his excellent collaboration with SBTRKT on Higher, but I implore you to listen to his own album Indigo Child. A phenomenal, blistering melting point of hip hop, electronic and rock music, it’s insane that this young man is only 18 years old. I posted about his single God’s Whisper a while back, click here for a little more on that one.
Set to visit Australia for the first time with Laneway Festival, I was lucky enough to have a chat to the man himself. We spoke on the phone while he was on tour in London; it was early morning there, and he was literally waking up as we spoke. But despite his young age, in between lethargic yawns and an occasionally fuzzy phone line, his passion, intelligence and poignant, carefully thought out answers were nothing short of astounding.
Raury didn’t grow up in a musical household, and he didn’t pick up a guitar until he was 11, “out of natural curiosity.” But he remembers writing his first melody at three years old, and his first rap at eight. He grew up listening to a vast array of artists from Michael Jackson and Outkast to Queen, David Bowie, System of a Down, Bon Iver, Kid Cudi and more. It’s no surprise that his talent lays outside the realm of any one style. “It wasn’t a conscious effort to sound different, I just started making it,” he says.
What impresses me most about Raury is that he’s got his eyes on a really big prize. He’s not just creating music, he’s starting a revolution, as he says. But first, he needed to do was find fans who were not willing, but able to join him. And he’s got that down. His marketing prowess is so on point, well beyond his years.
Raury first came to attention by putting on a set of guerilla gigs, or an “anti-tour” outside large concerts of other artists like Childish Gambino.
“We wanted to start capturing where we are right now,” he explains in a husky, Southern drawl. “We decided to get a ten foot U-Haul truck, paint it, show up at the shows of artists who we thought had fans with the capacity to understand what I was making.
“After the show there’d be people standing around, waiting on their ride or plan the next thing to do – and I was that next thing. We’d get outta there before the cops shut it down, but even if they did there were so many cameras and people filming it. And they’d tell their friends. I’d go there with a few fans, I’d get back with a few hundred more.”
Needless to say, it worked.
Indigo Child was written, recorded and produced over three years. Raury started the project at 15. “I wasn’t a producer, I wasn’t even a lyricist. Over time I figured out what I liked to do, but I was a perfectionist – it wasn’t ready yet. I wasn’t ready to share it with the world when I was 15.”
Skip forward a few years. Raury was personally invited to open for OutKast at their homecoming show in Atlanta. Andre 3000 had been introduced to his music via his niece, and he was impressed – rightly so.
For Raury, going from his U-Haul truck to a mammoth show like that was one hell of a journey. “I’m a completely different person. My first anti-tour, I was still terrified of the crowd, but I’d steal the fear and do it anyway. Now it’s gone completely. It’s really crazy. Ever since I opened up for OutKast I can just say I’m not scared of anything.”
Fans love Raury, artists love Raury, the media loves Raury – and he knows it. “People meet me and talk to me and they have a genuine liking for me,” he says. “They just wanna help out. So getting that spot opening for OutKast? It’s like clockwork, y’know. They just took me in.”
It’s easy to understand why he’s so popular. This is a man who, at 18, is creating a movement and music so powerful, important and simply damn good, that he deserves every ounce of attention that he’s receiving.
“I’m not releasing music and dropping tracks to gain a Grammy, or to get the most money or to sell a million albums. My goal for the next five or ten years is to affect one to five million lives for the better. That’s the goal, that’s why I make music: to influence lives for the better. I’m really aware that what you listen to, if you want, it becomes who you are. And I wanna make really good music. Most of the songs are about self-determination and believing in yourself. A lot of people don’t feel that way. So if you’re trying to be the best, a gardener or whatever, keep pushing.
“I get tweets from my fans saying that going to school is so much easier, or work goes by so much faster, when they’re listening to my project. That’s what I want, that’s what I like to hear and see from my fans.”
Raury will be in town for Laneway Festival, alongside two special sideshows in Sydney and Melbourne
Laneway:
Saturday 31 January – BRISBANE – BRISBANE SHOWGROUNDS, BOWEN HILLS (16+)
Sunday 1 February – SYDNEY – SYDNEY COLLEGE OF THE ARTS (SCA), ROZELLE**
Friday 6 February – ADELAIDE – HART’S MILL, PORT ADELAIDE (16+)
Saturday 7 February – MELBOURNE – FOOTSCRAY COMMUNITY ARTS CENTRE (FCAC) AND THE RIVER’S EDGE
Sunday 8 February – FREMANTLE – ESPLANADE RESERVE AND WEST END
Raury:
Mon, February 2: Oxford Art Factory, Sydney (Tix here)
Tues, February 3: Howler, Melbourne (Tix here)
By now, you’ve probably (or hopefully) heard “Higher” SBTRKT’s (second) newest single, which dropped earlier this week and features young gun Raury on vocals. Between his husky rapping and soulful crooning, Raury makes the track as breathtaking as it is, creating what will undoubtedly be a standout track on SBTRKT’s forthcoming sophomore album.
At a mere 18 years of age, the singer-songwriter-rapper-producer etc has been championed by everyone from Kanye West to Diplo, from Lorde to Danger Mouse – and it’s easy to see why.
Raury’s voice is outstanding, and his songwriting skills easily match that of artists far older and more experienced. He sings in a mellow and breathy tone, with a strength and dominance that immediately demands your unfaltering attention.
Released earlier this year, “God’s Whisper” is his debut single. I can’t stop listening to it. The track begins with claps, vocal riffs, and some distant whoops and cheers as embellishment.
The vocals kick in, and I’m instantly mesmerised. Slow and steady, simple and powerful, this track makes one hell of a statement. Without warning, extra layers of rich vocals make up the chorus, hype-building licks and more cheers. The prominence of almost acapella-style vocal layers is really interesting and pretty rare, but I love it. Towards the end, the track grows even more powerful, with Raury’s voice soaring on high above chants, claps and a rumbling beat.
Raury has recently released 13-track-mixtape “Indigo Child.” In particular, watch out for second single “Cigarette Song” and the similarly stompy “Chariots of Fire.”