Music News: Raye, Sabrina Carpenter, and MC5
By Lee Vowell
It's summer, so this should be a grand time for new music. Remember when, just before the earth cooled, people used to discuss what the "song of summer" was? Do we still do that? Or have summer songs turned less-beachy and more reflective of cold winter nights?
The reason the above is mentioned is that two of the musical artists in the headline of this article have new songs, but neither are exactly happy. Raye released "Genesis" on Friday, and, according to NME, the pop star said, "There is so much darkness and pain in this world we live in, and I wanted to create something both as deeply personal and as raw as I could find myself to be about my own mind and the world I see around me."
She added, "It is a prayer and a plea and a cry for help, and I really hope this song will be able to bring some hope, the way this music does for me, to those who need it most."
Raye, Sabrina Carpenter, and MC5 all have new music
Why the message might be that one can find happiness even when life seems most grim, the song stems from bleakness. There is no Will Smith singing "Summertime" while the realities for some are long forgotten. Maybe Raye's approach is the correct one, however. She wants to try to help, and the song does not leave reality behind.
Sabrina Carpenter released her latest single, "Please Please Please," on Friday. The video is not an overly light-hearted one as the singer is in jail and being bailed out when another person in handcuffs is brought in. The actor playing the person in hand-cuffs is Carpenter's real-life boyfriend, Barry Keoghan. The track is extremely bubbly, but the content is not.
Keoghan's character, after getting out of prison, leads Carpenter into a den where there is a fight, and then Keoghan's character robs a bank before being arrested again. How fun. At least the ending sees Carpenter getting some revenge.
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In happier news tinged with sadness, a new MC5 album is truly on the way, 53 years after their last album, High Time, was produced. There are a bunch of excellent guitarists appearing on the record, including Slash, Vernon Reid, and Tom Morello. The sad part is that frontman Wayne Kramer won't get to see the album released as he passed away earlier in 2024.
The record will be called Heavy Lifting and will be released on October 18. There is a first single off the album titled "Boys Who Play With Matches" and the song is quite good. The sound resembles something Queens of the Stone Age might create.
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