RAYE has opened up about the pressure of working with Mark Ronson, the acclaimed producer behind some of Amy Winehouse’s most iconic music and made it clear she has no intention of stepping into the late singer’s shoes.
The British artist, who recently won an Oscar for Best Original Song and British Album of the Year at the 2024 BRIT Awards, said she was “nervous” before heading into the studio with Ronson.
“Honestly, I’m not gonna lie, I actually was quite nervous and scared to work with him,” RAYE told People.
“I just do want to say that I know I can never, ever, ever, ever, ever attempt to replace or imitate Amy. I’m in awe of her. We all are, and we miss her.”
New music with Mark Ronson on the way
RAYE has recorded two new tracks with Ronson. The first, “Suzanne”, drops 13 June, and the second, “Grandma Calls the Boy Bad News”, will appear in the upcoming Formula 1 movie.
“I absolutely love this producer. I’ve always wanted to work with this producer since I was a little girl,” RAYE said.
“It’s quite a tough thing to even allow myself to create so freely with him. But I really just wanted to be like, ‘Do you know what? I just need to forget what anyone else is gonna say about this.’”
RAYE added that the songs they’ve made together feel joyful and personal.
“We’ve made music together that I’m so proud of, and I love.
I play it, and it makes me happy and joyful, so I’m proud.”
Album two is coming, but there’s a hiccup
The follow-up to My 21st Century Blues is in progress, but RAYE hit a serious setback earlier this year when her car was stolen, along with original songbooks and her only written notes for album two.
She’s since started to rebuild the project, although there’s one thing still missing.
“I don’t have an album title,” she said. “It’s stressing me out right now, I can’t lie, because I’ve got the music starting to really come there.
In my humble opinion, My 21st Century Blues is such a fire album title, and I can’t hand in an album title that’s less good than that.”
