honoring Corinne Bailey Rae’s debut album: 15 years later
~put your records on~
Leeds, England native and singer Corinne Bailey Rae has an instantly recognizable lilt and vocal timbre. somewhere, whether by your own volition or in a department store, you’ve heard those honey-dipped vocals before — accompanied by a sweet acoustic guitar that puts you at ease upon listening. as someone who has cherished the singer’s debut album since its release, it’d be a failure to not also acknowledge her sense of poetry.
the way she ties words together and emotes them with such passion...i listen and i’m in awe at how she names and taps into the collective feelings that we’ve all experienced. this week (on feb. 24) marks the 15th anniversary of the hit neo-soul album and while it wasn’t released until June of 2006 in the U.S., the impact it has on me knows no time. (also CBR is a pisces who’s celebrating her birthday this week in addition to this anniversary so she just knows and simply gets it.)
i would have been around 11/12 when i first heard her voice (thanks to vh1’s “you oughta know”). for my young ears (and now), Rae’s debut record was 11 tracks of sonic sunshine and serotonin. once the triumphant yet heartbreaking opener “Like A Star” reels you in, you’ll surely want to stay the course.
throughout the trajectory of her career, Rae’s jazzy and soulful harmonies have truly sustained me — these elements appeared very evidently in tracks like “Seasons Change” on the debut but also a decade later on one of my favorite songs in the world “Green Aphrodisiac.”
y’all, when i say my personal plays of the 2006 album are unmeasurable, i mean it. it’s the definition of a no-skip LP (although my cd might be a lil scratched and may skip on occasion). my physical copy of this CD has definitely seen better days: i’ve had to replace the case a couple times and i’m pretty sure the current case was from a double CD that i no longer have. it’s also cracked to the point of no closure and there’s an Alicia Keys disc from 2003 tucked on the inside. it’s safe to say, i wasn’t up for photographing this artifact.
admittedly, i may be super nostalgic for this album considering the impressionable age that i discovered it, since i was still figuring out what i enjoyed musically. other cds i’ve held onto from that era include The Fray’s how to save a life, so preteen listening can be quite the mixed bag. still, Corinne Bailey Rae was a personal saving grace for years past its release. it deepens with significance upon each revisit.
fast forward to 2020 and it definitely made sense when the single “Put Your Records On” resurfaced last year due to a popular cover; it proved that the track had a timeless message of self-love and honoring one’s individuality. but honestly, the cover just made me want to revisit this album! i like covers, but for personal (and historical) reasons, i like Black women singing and getting credit for their own songs more.
what was your favorite on Corinne Bailey Rae, the album? or your favorite song of hers in general? you can bet my mp3 player consistently had “Breathless” on repeat before i played the full record all over again.