Hi everyone, Bigthony Pulltano here, the internet's busiest music nerd, and it's time for a review of this new RAYE album, THIS MUSIC MAY CONTAIN HOPE.

Here we have a brand new record from UK singer-songwriter-producer RAYE, who's really proven to be one of the most interesting success stories and breakouts in the music industry in the last few years. A talented artist who for a while was grinding in relative obscurity, despite her immense and clear vocal talent. Early on, she was signed to Polydor, she had a hand in writing tracks performed by Charli XCX and Beyoncé.

She was slowly and progressively trying to build a name for herself off of this series of EP releases she was doing, but ultimately sought to separate from her label over a difference in direction for her career, where she wanted to take her sound, which ultimately left RAYE in a position where she had to independently release her debut record, My 21st Century Blues. And doing that, RAYE ultimately made the right call, because this record proved to be a massive hit for her, with multiple tracks that climbed up the charts.

Which turned the success of this album almost into a rallying moment for the pop girlies, because look at the way this incredible voice was being stifled creatively, only for her to release this record on her own and be celebrated with tracks that people were just loving. Never mind the catchy, bold combination of pop, soul, and rap that she combines to make her music, really continuing England's tradition of these chart-smashing soul exports like Sade, and Amy Winehouse, Adele, even most recently Olivia Dean, who is absolutely killing it right now.

And obviously, RAYE is doing damage, too, but has the potential to do so much more with a follow-up record, especially with audience support and a budget, collaborators like Hans Zimmer.

Hence why CONTAIN HOPE has been one of my most anticipated albums of the year. So, of course, I dug into this record once it was released, and the listening experience made me feel profoundly sad and disappointed to the point where it's hard to put words to it. Because calling this album indulgent and obnoxious barely describes the half of it.

Ultimately, my main issue with CONTAIN HOPE is I feel like RAYE, in all of her ambition— and this is no doubt an ambitious record, you cannot argue against that— but in the process of reaching for the stars, RAYE has effectively drowned out everything that made the music on her last record so appealing. Because, really, any potential for these songs to soar or breathe is completely smothered in mounds of arranged instrumentation, constant exposition and narrativizing, moments like "Click Clack Symphony" where RAYE's vocals are so heavily edited to death that they lose almost all human quality.

Also, the schlocky big band jazz performances that feel more musical theater than authentic jazz, the annoying intros, the meta-commentary in the lyrics about the songs and stories that RAYE is telling in real time. RAYE is not just breaking the fourth wall on this record constantly – the fourth wall just doesn't exist. And then a whole outro track where the bulk of it is spent, like, just reading off the entire credits of the record. Like, liner notes exist for a reason.

I mean, I will say, in comparison with 21st Century, RAYE does show off her full power level vocally a bit more, which is cool. And it's not like putting her own story into the lyrics of this record so literally is totally out of the bounds of what modern pop is doing at the moment — I mean, look at the new Lily Allen album. Plus, RAYE has been known to use her songs to make a point before, be it on "Ice Cream Man" or a track like "Body Dysmorphia". And RAYE has for sure had songs that get a little meta here and there – "Oscar Winning Tears"!? But you know what? If you clipped those bits out of these tracks, you would still be left with the meat of a functional, enjoyable song.

But with CONTAIN HOPE the bells and whistles kinda feel like the point. As much of this record is just nothing but constant distractions and diversions, just piling on the endless seasonings and flavors to distract from the fact that all we're really doing is spicing up an old piece of shoe leather. And frankly, in terms of topical tracks and writing material, I feel like RAYE had more hay to make on her last record, as 21st Century was dealing in some very universal and relatable issues and problems that had maybe more of a wider scope.

Meanwhile, no joke, this record's first real song is titled "I Will Overcome," the bulk of which is spent kind of moaning about people not liking her online and comparing her to Amy Winehouse. Which, yeah, I mean, I'm sure she will overcome that. There's no doubt. And of course, this, uh, very melodramatic track comes complete with Disney strings and theater kid emotional breakdowns, then subsequently follows this track up with, some so-so, who-cares love stories that don't really offer that much in terms of interesting details or drama.

The song "The WhatsApp Shakespeare" is just about the worst book-on-tape one, I think, could experience on an album this year. Meanwhile, tracks like "I Know You're Hurting" are a bit more straightforward, relatively, but ultimately feel like I'm listening to a stereotypical piece of millennial weepy balladry à la Lukas Graham, albeit with better vocals and way heavier arrangements.

We also have "Life Boat", which is like a random house track in the midst of it all, which, while a bit more enjoyable than some of the worst songs here, definitely does not fit in this tracklist, no matter how quirky its inclusion is. Then "I Hate the Way I Look Today" is pretty much like some 'Hey, why don't you come and shimmy some time' type music. But really, it's like the most grating combination of jazz and musical theater that you could imagine.

As we go deeper into the record, there are some heartening and enjoyable moments for sure. The Al Green feature was a really nice surprise. The track about her granddad, while maybe not the most enjoyable song from a melodic standpoint, is a nice sentiment. "WHERE IS MY HUSBAND!" is still a great track, was a fantastic single. I also really love the song "Nightingale Lane". Like, not only does this track feature a stupendous vocal performance, as well as an interesting opera switch-up on the back end, but in terms of RAYE just, like, straightforwardly killing it on a great quality expressive song with wonderful, tasteful writing and production, this is kind of everything I could have wanted, and really what I wish this album offered more of, rather than constantly weaving in all of these musical and conceptual speed bumps that much of the time prevent the song from getting going or really fully manifesting.

Then the final moments of the record are really some of my least favorite. We do have that credits track, "Fin", that I mentioned earlier, but the song "Joy" is really no better. Somehow sounds more like what you would get if you made a soul tune for a Target commercial, in a way makes Bruno Mars sound gritty and underground by comparison.

Look, at the end of the day, like, I went into this review hoping to love this album, really expecting to love it, thinking I was gonna hit one of my favorite pop records of the year. But, CONTAIN HOPE is very much not that. And it feels weird to be in this spot because on paper this album seems like something I would go insane for, because it is so crazy, it is so ambitious, it is so over the top in a way. It is experimental, it really is kind of like getting into the weeds and providing what I would say is a unique experience. Again, for as many parallels as one could draw to that very narrative-heavy Lily Allen record, uh, you are not going to hear another pop record that sounds like this in 2026.

But like, I really think for this album to have worked, RAYE did need to tone it down a little bit, or at least make sure she wasn't sacrificing the songwriting in the process of really going for it with some of the out-there ideas she was attempting on this record. Because it really is a case of not really being able to enjoy many of these songs because I'm constantly being subjected to ideas and sounds and spoken bits and self-references that take away from the immersion of the music and also take away from the quality and structure of the music too, making this record feel less like an album and more like a bad Broadway production. Which is why I'm I'm feeling a light 3 on it.

Anthony Fantano, RAYE, forever.