FEATURE: Spotlight: Rachel Chinouriri

FEATURE:

Spotlight

Rachel Chinouriri

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CONTINUING with my…

PHOTO CREDIT: Dean Ryan McDaid for Rolling Stone

features highlighting artists who will be big in 2023, and that takes me to someone I thought I had already covered! The amazing Rachel Chinouriri is the Croydon-born artist who has been tipped by many to be among the best and brightest of 2023. I am new to her work, but Chinouriri released her E.P., Mama's Boy, in 2019. She signed to Parlophone, with whom she released her debut mini-album, Four° In Winter, in 2021. The amazing E.P., Better Off Without, came out last year. I will get to a review of that E.P. There are interviews that I want to come to. They are from last year. The first is actually from 2021. Already a very promising artist, The Forty-Five spotlighted this amazing talent who was clearly going to go on to better things. It was clear in 2021 that Chinouriri had this gift:

“You studied musical theatre at BRIT School to help you overcome your fear of performing. How did this help your development?

It helped me a lot because I was actually quite shy before I started BRIT School. I cried after the first time I had to sing in front of anyone – it was so uncomfortable! But I knew that if I wanted to be a singer I had to get over it. I chose musical theatre because you learn how to sing, dance and act, and how to put on a show, and you learn how to turn into a new character and perform to people. I knew that as a singer, I needed to learn at least the basic skills, so musical theatre really helped me transform into who I am today.

I knew that I had to get a grip and get over myself, otherwise I would end up doing a job that I didn’t want; it took a lot of crying, but I just had to get over it. And then at one point in my second year of BRIT, it just kind of all clicked. I was comfortable at that point, as I realised that no one’s actually judging you even if you hit a funny note; people wanted to be helpful and supportive.

Was there anyone else in your life that encouraged you to pursue music?

My mum, for sure. When I started doing music, she was like: ‘Oh no, you have to go to University, you need a backup plan!’. I guess she just wanted to make sure that I had a plan in place, because she’s an immigrant, and she came here for [her children] to go to university and get good jobs. She has got over it now and understands it, but I think she was more fearful of what would happen.

There was a moment where I was like: “Fuck it, why don’t I just go for it.” And also, my Mum went to uni when she was 34. So I was just like: “Why are you telling me I have to go to uni now? You went to uni in your 30s, and you’ve turned out perfectly fine and have a successful business!”. You just have to go for it and hope for the best.

What would you say you’ve learned about yourself on this journey?

I feel like I’m stronger than what I think I am, and I should believe in myself a little bit more. Sometimes I have looked at myself and thought, “Oh, I’m not doing as well as other people”, but you should never, ever compare yourself to other people. When I was 14, I didn’t even see myself being able to pay my bills. I didn’t even see myself ever having a VEVO channel, or the small things like being on a poster, making my own music videos, and having Spotify pay me – and now I’m here with almost 200,000 monthly listeners! I didn’t think I was going to be able to do this, but I am able to do what I put my mind to, I guess.

Let’s talk about your new EP, ‘Four° In Winter’. How did it come together?

I wanted to show people what I actually want to do. I’ve always been into dark, depressing, sad songs, and electronic sounds. I also want to show my creativity; I want to showcase dance and all the things I’ve learned, and show people what I am capable of. But some of these songs are really old! ‘Plain Jane’ is like three years old, potentially. I just picked the songs which were closer to this dark, melancholic vibe and world that I want to be in.

Where do things go from here? Are you looking to make an album?

I’m just trying to write as much as possible and work on myself as a performer so that when the world finally goes back to normal, I’m ready. People are going to be like, “Look at this girl!”. I want to make sure I’m at my best in all creative realms, and I can’t wait to see what my first album will be like. I’m very intrigued”.

Last one was a busy and exciting one for Rachel Chinouriri. Building on momentum form the year previous, she released the incredible E.P., Better Off Without, in May. It is an extraordinary work that gained lots of love and acclaim. The Line of Best Fit scored it eighty of ten in their review of a truly magnificent work:

“It says a lot then that I feel confident about the prospects of Croydon’s Rachel Chinouriri, an indie-pop singer who released her first single to Soundcloud in 2018 and was swiftly signed to Parlophone by 2020. Her career so far has spanned genres from warm bedroom pop to music with an electronic palette and a colder, more ethereal mood.

BEST FIT named her an artist On The Rise last year, following her Four° In Winter EP, a spacey collection of songs and a statement that her music was not to defined by the more direct approach of her breakout songs. As if to defy expectations again, the single which immediately followed, "If Only", was a sunny and delicate song about domesticity and a childhood lived in first-world poverty. It’s this sound that Better Off Without seems to follow on from, and the EP continues Chinouriri's hot-streak.

Rather than domesticity and family, these four new songs focus on the end of a relationship, but even in this, Chinouriri avoids the pedestrian. Rather than ruminating on the immediate anguish which follows a breakup, they feel like they were written in the wave of vexation and defiance which eventually emerges; sometimes days, sometimes years later. Lead single "All I Ever Asked" is the finest example - it begins with some fairly familiar guitar strumming, but Chinouriri’s voice rises in power and tempo across the course of four minutes where she asks of an ex-lover: "just a little more time, was it really that hard to do? / It was all I ever asked of you", as if she’s snapping out of a dream in real time. The breezy melody she provides as her own accompaniment is infectious and bright, and the moment when the song’s instrumentation pares back only for Chinouriri to emerge multi-tracked for the songs final chorus, like a choir of her own, is one of the most blissful moments in music this year.

There’s a pleasing sonic striking unity across the four songs here, yet each song feels distinct in sentiment and approach."Happy Ending" is a softer yet slightly more pained moment, which similarly amps in tempo across the track’s runtime - "do I owe it to you?" she asks, "I never got my happy ending." "Fall Right Out of Love" surges forward with lolloping guitar, only to be swallowed whole by swirling washes of synth, while the title track posses a wholly more melancholic state of mind, marked by some child-like keys and Chinouriri singing so close to the mic that it sounds like she’s whispering in your ear. It’s a song of regret which goes another direction that the title might suggest: "I care a little too much for someone / Who didn't care much for me / You’re better off without me." For three years now Rachel Chinouriri has been releasing songs like these which are welcoming, intimate and distinct, and with bonafides like those, it’s hard to imagine things going wrong from here".

I want to come to a couple of fairly recent interviews with Chinouriri. As an artist primed for been grander things this year, it is no surprise so many have been keen to talk with her. Rolling Stone (U.K.) featured Chinouriri and asked her about the new E.P., and how she feels about wrong being labelled as an R&B artist:

“The 24-year-old singer-songwriter and Brit school alumnus used to find herself going viral for “really dumb reasons”. But in December last year, Chinouriri’s innate aptitude for social media virality paid off when an acoustic version of her single ‘So My Darling’ started gaining traction on TikTok. At the time of writing, the track has soundtracked over 134,000 videos. “I’d seen so many different artists have this moment, and it hit me [that it was happening to me] and I started to panic,” Chinouriri recalls. “I hit up my label two days before Christmas, like, ‘We need to release this song now, I don’t know what’s happening!’ That moment was a little bit terrifying.”

Terrifying though it may have been, it was also transformative. Not because it kicked off her career — Chinouriri has been signed to Parlophone since 2018, with whom she released her critically-acclaimed debut EP, Mama’s Boy, in 2019 and its follow-up, Four° in Winter, in 2021 — but because it showed her what she wanted from it.

Chinouriri is an indie artist who has been writing songs since she was a teenager, but thanks to the industry’s perception of the genre as, Chinouriri says, “quote-unquote white music”, she’s often felt the need to adapt her work in order to fit into a particular box. This feeling was particularly strong when she was making Four° in Winter, an electronic-infused EP on which Chinouriri experiments with “wonky” production techniques. It’s an impressive, immersive record, filled with soulful vocals and atmospheric melodies, but does mark a shift from the softer, sunnier indie of Mama’s Boy.

“I started to be like, ‘Well, OK, if I’m not going to be accepted in indie, then maybe let me try other elements which I like and see if that will work out’,” continues Chinouriri. “Then ‘So My Darling’ blew up and I was like, ‘Oh, nah, I have to go back to what I love’.”

Armed with a refound assurance in her craft, Chinouriri’s 2022 EP, Better Off Without — a bright, captivating record about heartbreak, written at the end of a five-year relationship — is distinctly indie, with plucky guitars, silky, sing-song vocals, and a catchy hook. And, as cemented by her glittering follow-up single, ‘I’m Not Perfect (But I’m Trying)’, Chinouriri has, as she recently declared on TikTok, undoubtedly returned to her indie-pop era.

This era is proving particularly fruitful for Chinouriri, who’s spent the summer playing gigs and festivals, supporting the likes of Sam Fender and Bloc Party, and basking in the glory of Better Off Without, the opening track of which, ‘All I Ever Asked’, was declared one of Radio 1’s Hottest Records in the World.

Amid touring and making viral TikToks and indie bangers, Chinouriri found time to sit shoot for Rolling Stone UK’s shoot with THOMAS SABO, and reflected on where her love of music came from, how her time at Brit School (and walking the same corridors as Adele) has influenced her today, and the importance of Black artists refusing to compromise their craft just to appease the industry.

You recently released your new single ‘I’m Not Perfect (But I’m Trying)’. What’s the story behind the track?

Rachel Chinouriri: It’s about being perfectly imperfect, and the indecisiveness that people can have sometimes. As a person, I’ve learned to just go for things no matter what, and when I haven’t gone for things, I hate the idea of ‘what ifs’. So it’s being like, ‘I’m not perfect, but I’m trying, and if I’m going to do something, I’m going to go with it wholeheartedly’. I’ll dive in and just really prove myself more than my doubts, because sometimes that little voice in your head can really be the killer of something which could be so beautiful.

In a teaser video on TikTok, you used the song as an example of being in your indie pop year, also exemplified by Better Off Without. Do you feel you strayed away from indie pop with Four in Winter? If so, why do you think that was?

Rachel Chinouriri: Yeah, I definitely did, and there were a lot of factors. I’ve spoken about being a Black artist in genres that aren’t seen as stereotypically Black. I’ve never tried to water down my Blackness or my heritage, but when, for example, I use my African surname and keep in my braids, for some reason it’s hard for some people to translate that you can be as African, as Croydon, and as proud of where you’re from, but also still enjoy indie music or quote-unquote white music. And you can also want to write that music and be involved in it. Putting race to music, to me and to many people, seems so dumb. But I think, beforehand, there was so much confusion about where to place me that I started to try and adapt to be like, ‘Well, OK, if I’m not going to be accepted in indie, then maybe let me try other elements which I like and see if that will work out’. Then the acoustic version of ‘So My Darling’ blew up on TikTok, and I was like, ‘Oh, nah, I have to go back to what I love’.

You’ve talked a lot about this and your frustration with being wrongly labelled an R&B artist. Has it felt vulnerable speaking out?

Rachel Chinouriri: 100 per cent. I used to get told before, ‘If you speak up about it, what if you lose support, or what if people think you’re ungrateful?’ And then, over time, as much as I used to be scared about those things, I started thinking, ‘Okay, I’m no longer happy with what I’m doing or how disingenuous I’m being’. And the whole point of my music is to be as honest as possible. I’d much rather get the backlash of people not liking me for being honest. But, from speaking up about it, the response actually shocked me. The amount of people who were just like, ‘We’ve known this for years. This is a thing that’s always been happening.’ And I’m like, ‘Oh, so it’s not just me!’ Everyone’s just been waiting for the conversation to begin.

It’s a shame to think that people can’t express themselves musically how they want because they fear not being able to fit in or get into a certain space. When the BLM protests happened, all the labels put black squares up, that was an invitation for conversations to happen. And if the labels are promising to listen to Black artists, they’ll get more backlash if they don’t. This is our time to speak up and get more involved. So, it’s been scary in ways, but it’s actually been a bigger relief because it feels like I’ve said what everyone’s been thinking this whole time.

Your latest EP is about heartbreak — do you find songwriting to be a cathartic experience that helps you process your emotions?

Rachel Chinouriri: Songwriting is my first therapy. I’m not a very good talker, so even when I was younger and I couldn’t express how I was feeling, I’d write it in a poem or a song. That’s just how my brain copes with things. Then I’ll sing it out and be like, ‘Oh, I feel fine’. This year, there’s been moments where it’s been so hard, and I’ve sat with my therapist and cried, but the last month, where I’ve only focused on writing, has been the most therapeutic time ever. I’ve unpacked so much stuff by myself, and when I sent it out to my managers, I felt a lot of relief. I’ve realised that I don’t want to do music, I need to do it for the sake of my sanity!”.

PHOTO CREDIT: MOAL

I will finish with a recent feature from DIY. They inducted Chinouriri into their Class of 2023: the artists who they feel are going to break through and dominate this year. It is clear that there is this huge faith in the wonderful music of Rachel Chinouriri. She is someone incredibly special indeed. I think that we are going to hear Chinouriri’s music for years more:

“If 2023 is set to be Rachel Chinouriri’s defining year so far, the timing could not be better. The Croydon singer-songwriter has been amassing a formidable head of steam with her esoteric, leftfield indie pop music for the last few years, but she admits that only now does she feel ready to take the next step. “I feel like if this was happening to me when I was two or three years younger, it would’ve gone really wrong,” she says.

After weathering a turbulent period in her personal life, Rachel spent 2022 putting her instincts first. The results - including last summer’s ‘Better Off Without’ EP - have been resounding. “This is the year when I’ve doubted myself the least and said no to a lot of different things,” she explains. “In return, it’s been my most well-received year and the music has been the closest to what I want it to actually sound like.

“I feel really excited,” she continues, eager to look towards the year ahead. “It is a slightly anxious feeling, but more because you want to prove yourself because you’ve been given the platform and space to deliver the music you want to make. There are a million and one people that would love to be in this position, so the fact that I’ve been granted it, it just makes me excited to show what I’ve got and prove to people that I can be an indie pop artist.”

The genesis of her newfound self-assuredness can be traced back to the start of 2022. She posted an Instagram message in January, outlining her frustration at being mis-categorised as an R&B or neo-soul artist, despite her records bearing none of those traits. “In my early days, to be put into genres I never grew up listening to was so bizarre to me, then it clicked it was because of my skin,” she wrote. The post became widely shared and prompted supportive messages from her peers, including Arlo Parks and Connie Constance.

The experience coincided with a difficult break-up and, as she emerged from that period, Rachel redoubled her efforts to make the type of art that she felt was the truest expression of her identity - something she realised she had previously allowed herself to be distracted from. “I did try to change my sound, and accommodate certain things, and look a certain way,” she reflects. “And as much as I loved that music and that sound, it was not entirely who I was.

“I would literally be sitting in the studio and be like, ‘Black artists that do well in the UK, what do they sound like?’,” she recalls. “I started shifting the way I would think in a creative space. As someone who has been writing things since I was six, seven years old, I’ve always written things for myself. So the fact that, entering the industry, I had started to think, ‘What will people say? What will the press say?’, that was the first time I’d ever done that and it really messed up the process for me a bit”.

A truly wonderful artist who is definitely among the elite that are going to direct this year’s music, go and follow her and listen to the amazing music she has put out so far. There are so many artists coming through who will amaze through this year but, in the case of Rachel Chinouriri, she is…