Warp Records
Raven sees the much-anticipated return of Kelela after a six-year absence since her astounding debut, 2017’s Take Me Apart. Thankfully, time has only elevated her already considerable talent, and Raven harnesses the same emotional power that made Take Me Apart so devastating while taking her sound to new levels.
Raven has been a long time coming, and the world’s landscape has changed significantly since Kelela’s last release. The Trump administration has been and gone, while 2020 brought a global pandemic that rocked the world and the largest protest movement in US history. Raven sees Kelela processing her identity as a proud Black Femme; as a black queer woman, she represents a powerful, hugely important, and much-needed voice in the music industry. 2022 saw Beyonce celebrate the roots of black dance music with the fantastic, joyous Renaissance. Raven is a more introspective but no less powerful dancefloor reclamation; it’s a record expressing Kelela’s identity and her sense of isolation as a Black femme working within dance music.
After Take Me Apart‘s much-deserved critical hype, Kelela initially struggled with perfection. Expectation is a difficult beast to tame, but self-expectation is an even nastier one. After an understandable period of reflection, she set to work on the record but found herself feeling rusty. She described herself as weighed down by the burden of capitalism, feeling that she should seek to grow her audience. However, she overcame such demons, and the record reflects her growing confidence, as she told the Guardian, ‘I’m not seeking to be a bridge’. This isn’t a record concerned with getting people on board (the spellbinding power of the music does that anyway); it’s the sound of an artist speaking her truths.
Raven’s powerful messages are supported by an expansion in sound. The futuristic, revolutionary R&B of Take Me Apart is still there, but there are more atmospheric moments, allowing Kelela’s stunning voice to float through. Warp Records is home to several bastions of the ambient scene, such as Aphex Twin and Boards of Canada, and Kelela embraces elements of these artists. The album is wonderfully produced, creating these dense, layered atmospheres throughout without crowding out Kelela’s voice. There’s a host of collaborators, new and old, with producer LSDXOXO making a particular impact. But the star of the show is undoubtedly Kelela, who adds emotion to the atmosphere in her fantastic, idiosyncratic way.
The opener, ‘Washed Away’, provides a soothing, harmonic start, Kelela’s voice slicing through the atmospheric mist. ‘Happy Ending’ sees her cut loose, mulling over an old love to the tune of skittering breakbeats. The track sees Kelela setting some boundaries, a key theme to the album, as she sings.”And I won’t chase you”. ‘Let It Go’ is a jazz-tinged piano ballad, her silky smooth voice wrapping itself around you. ‘On The Run’ is all wobbly beats and watery synths, which combine with Kelela’s voice to create a mournful atmosphere. The song feels like a lament to a lover who can’t commit and again sees Kelela setting herself boundaries as she sings, “I Shouldn’t have to try”. There’s a sense of conflict between both songs as Kelela grapples between passionate desires and looking after her emotional well-being. ‘Missed Call’ again sees her wrestling with indecision (“Do I wanna fall in love again”), while this time, we are treated to some jungle-esque beats.
‘Closure’ is a sensual, sultry R&B jam before we bounce into the garage-infused ‘Contact’, which encompasses the journey to and arrival at a club. Lightly seductive, it features a lovely semi-psychedelic encounter in the middle of the track. ‘Fooley’ moves us away from the dancefloor; unsettling synth waves reverberate, creating this distorted, disturbing sound. Once again, Kelela sings of being “Far Away”, a common motif across the album that could represent a sense of physical yearning. ‘Holier’ is another ambient dipped effort, and there’s a captivating sense of heartbreak to Kelela singing, “I go where they hold me down”. The track is about going where you are appreciated, with Kelela learning from her past and vowing, “you’re not gonna take my crown”. ‘Raven’ has a drone-like build-up before breaking into this kind of alternative techno at the end. The song’s dramatic shift represents the song’s theme; it serves as a middle finger to people who weren’t actively anti-racist before and during Trump’s presidential term. Kelela is defiant, pouring scorn over virtue signalling and stating, “I’m not nobody’s pawn”.
‘Raven’ flows into ‘Bruises’, another example of the album’s seamless transitions. It’s another track that drifts into techno territory, Kelela retaining her sense of defiance as she pushes back at exploitative people, telling them to “Find another Way”. ‘Sorbet’ is the album’s most tender, intimate song, Kelela’s voice dancing around these spacious beats. ‘Divorce’ is a moody, eerie number, while ‘Enough For Love’ demonstrates her stunning falsetto in the chorus. The closer, ‘Far Away’, provides a wonderfully atmospheric conclusion, the dreamy synths and Kelela’s ethereal vocals wrapping themselves around you.
Raven is a brilliant, absorbing, and utterly enthralling listen. The sound may be more spacious, but Kelela retains the powerful intimacy that made her previous work so captivating. The whole album has a wonderful flow, effortlessly drifting between different sounds. There’s a hypnotic sense of tension throughout as Kelela navigates and presents an array of emotions as she reconnects with herself. It’s vulnerable but assertive; if Take Me Apart saw Kelela opening up to her listeners, Raven sees her opening up to herself. Raven is more than worth the wait.