Corinne Bailey Rae – The Sea : Album Reviews

Grammy award winner Corrine Bailey Rae’s second album The Sea marks her return to music following her hiatus after the untimely death of her husband Jason Rae. It’s a personal portrait of Rae’s life without her husband, with songs written before and after Rae’s death reflecting on pain, loss and new beginnings.

Opening track Are You Here arrives with no grand entrance. Rather, a sombre guitar line followed by Rae’s pitch perfect voice lead the listener into a beautiful tribute to her late husband, a song which clearly deals with the grieving  process of losing a loved one. Wonderfully arranged, the slow opening builds towards the two minute mark before gaining momentum, as Rae settles into the pace of the song.  I’d Do It All Again continues Rae’s search for a reason to love and live life to its potential. She has a graceful elegance, tinges of soul, which is beautifully accompanied by and an organ playing gently in the foreground. Moments like this wistfully direct the listener to the  jazz cafes of New York City.

Feels Like The First Time could very easily lose its mixture of bass and piano opening. After two slow songs, it unexpectedly places itself within the listeners world.  The Blackest Lily has influences stemming back to 1950’s soul/motown music.  It’s upbeat, and clearly shows a step forward from the ‘grieving’ songs of the albums opening. It feels as though Rae is  moving forward and looking for love again, but being hesitant at the risk of incurring that deep swell of pain she knows too well. Closer is a highlight of the album, its mellow, engaging and very easy to listen to, growing Rae as reflects on love in her life.

Corinne Bailey Rae

The true highlight arrives in Paris Nights/New York Mornings. It dazzles the listener with lyrics like “And we danced while the band played ‘She’s not there’/kissed me in the rain by the Rue Voltaire/It’s a perfectly good way to ruin those silk shoes.” By far the finest song on the album, it’s quaint, cute, and quirky and a breath of fresh life into the grim themes that preceded it. Title track The Sea is clearly a farewell to her late husband. The album builds through Rea’s grieving process, to remember her love, losing it, and relinquishing the pain to move onto greener pastures. There is an air of melancholy as the album ends, but it manages to captivate the listener right until its blissful finale.

It’s clear that Rae’s strengths lie in her voice. An instrument itself, she sings with an honest, raw power that is completely engaging. For somebody who often prefers a lot of indie rock, I can say without any hesitation, that Corrine Bailey Rae’s The Sea is a beautifully arranged album, and quite simply a true gem of 2010. Despite the fact that many, if not all of the songs carry the exact same tiresome theme of grief and love, it’s an album about dealing with that grief, and finding the inspiration to get back on your feet.