HE WILL FOLLOW YOU WITH HIS EYES
Corinne Bailey Rae has released the stunning video to accompany her brand new single
'He Will Follow You With His Eyes'. Directed by Gregory Berg and filmed in the beautiful and historic St George Theater in Staten Island, NY it sees Corinne exploring 1950's beauty ideals as espoused by Valmor and wider dominant American culture, ('lighter, brighter, longer, straighter') as she performs in the spotlight of an imagined television performance. And then, in keeping with the dramatic juxtaposition at the heart of the song, a fierce, powerful modernity bursts forth.
"It all started with a little tin of Lucky Brown, by Valmor, at the Stoney Island Arts Bank, Chicago," explains Corinne. "I was drawn to the dazzling design and intrigued by artist Charles Dawson. Valmor sold a wide range of beauty products. I wondered, 'what are the beauty norms in 1950's America? How do those expectations interplay with Black men and women, and how do we feel about them today?'. 'He Will Follow You With His Eyes' begins under the spell of Valmor, then... something different happens."
One of the many highlights of the remarkable Black Rainbows album, 'He Will Follow You With His Eyes' is the third single to be taken from that collection, following the riot grrl glam-punk of
'New York Transit Queen' and the achingly moving
'Peach Velvet Sky'.
Black Rainbows has been hailed around the world as a Bailey Rae's career-best work and critics have embraced the eclectic, genre-bending album as indisputably one of the finest albums of the past twelve months. It was inspired by Corinne's visits to the Stony Island Arts Bank in Chicago, where US artist Theaster Gates has curated a wide-ranging collection of complex and enlightening artefacts from Black history.
The album, and its associated live performances and book Refraction/Reflection of the Arts Bank photographed by Koto Bolofo, have shone a light on much of this history and seen Corinne Bailey Rae step into a new cultural space. She discusses much of this in an interview with iconic US producer, songwriter and musician Questlove on his Questlove Supreme podcast recently (
watch here).
Corinne also recently spoke at Columbia University where she was In Conversation with Dr Kellie Jones, Professor of Modern Art, Art-History & Archaeology. And Black Rainbows is now on the curriculum at Yale University as part of 'Black Sound And The Archive'.
PRAISE FOR BLACK RAINBOWS (Listen/Download HERE)
"Astonishingly visceral... music that veers thrillingly between jazz, soul, electronica, metal, punk and balladry... At every turn Bailey Rae sounds both humble and unshakeable. God, this is great." - 5/5, Sunday Times Culture
"The different musical styles are what makes Black Rainbows a revelation. [It] is the album of Rae's career" 5/5 - The Sun
"An extraordinary new sound. Rock, jazz, Afrofuturism... the British singer-songwriter is transformed on this record" 5/5 - The Observer
"She's pressed her own refresh button extremely hard and the results are remarkable... sprinting away from her cosy early sound in numerous different directions... It's extraordinary" 5/5 - Evening Standard
"Black Rainbows is stunning... These 10 songs comprise a work of art standing strong in its own right. Important? Yes, but above all this album is wild as hell" 5/5 - Classic Pop
"Black Rainbows magnificently roars around garage rock, jazz and even, on 'Erasure', Black Flag hardcore... It'll continue to uncover fresh layers of magic for years, while being enticing from the off" 5/5 - Record Collector
"The project speaks of a musician connecting with her culture and heritage on a deeper level, immersing herself in the pages of history and translating centuries of experiences into music for what will unquestionably become a defining album in her career" 5/5 - Retropop
"An incredible comeback, Corinne returns as an intense punk, rampaging metaller and inventive jazzer. [It] sounds like she's communing with Prince" 5/5 - Daily Star
"Best known for her soulful intensity, Corinne dips into punk, metal and inventive jazz" 5/5 - Sunday Mirror
"'Red Horse' is a reminder she can still conjure the silky ballads. Guitar freakout 'Erasure' and 'Before The Throne Of The Invisible God'... show her reaching for the stars" 5/5 - Sunday Express
"Black Rainbows is a terrific display of bracing yet ultimately soulful noises, a mesh of punk, electronics, gospel, and beyond, all delivered with a striking sense of purpose... A hugely impressive, frequently stunning return, Black Rainbows ranks as one of the year's most imposing comebacks" 9/10 - Clash
"Flitting from searing punk noise to astral gliding electronica to afro futurist R&B... Black Rainbows is a truly astonishing record, a revelation. Corinne Bailey Rae comes of age on one of 2023's most remarkable, must-hear albums" 4.5/5 - Louder
"From psychedelic soul to raucous rock, this big, sprawling album bounces between genres and flies off in directions you'd never expect... Without a doubt, it is the best album of Bailey Rae's career, and quite probably one of the albums of 2023 as well." 4.5/5 - Music OMH
"Grunge! Experimental jazz! Glam-punk!... Corinne Bailey Rae has thrown the musical curveball of the year" 4/5, NME
"The music, which is characterised by extraordinary switches in style [morphs] from sleepy electronica and futuristic R&B to churning grunge rock... but most impressive of all is 'Before The Throne Of The Invisible God', a stunning celestial soundscape" 4/5 - Mojo
"Black Rainbows has a different energy from its predecessors, a rip-it-up-and-start-again recklessness. The gentle jazz elements in her music now have an untamed psychedelic edge... A new chapter has opened" 4/5 - Financial Times
"Most tracks represent a rewiring along modernist lines with electronic textures and jazz flourishes... an inspired left turn" 8/10 - Uncut
"She has done it again on her new album, the brilliant, genre-hopping Black Rainbows [which] features noisy riot grrl punk tracks, jazz... and electronica that grew out of ideas of Afrofuturism, whose psychedelic experimentation felt like freedom" - The i Newspaper
"Bravely fluctuating between punk-influenced songs, ambient electronica, and rich, textual ballads, Rae moves beyond the constraints of genre and dissolves any preconceived notions about what she is capable of, or what her music should sound like" - Vogue
"A stew of genres spiced up with jazz, electro, rock and prog-soul" - Daily Mirror
"An ambitious concept piece seven years in the making... Black Rainbows is a joy" - Daily Mail
"Rae takes a liberal approach when expressing her creative freedoms: she experiments with genres, themes, and ideas ... taking listeners on an emotional rollercoaster... This album was not created to fit into a world of TikTok-friendly, easily consumed hooks. It was created by a versatile artist allowing herself to display a wide range of musical talent." - The Independent
"Black Rainbows is sonically very different. The songs are impressively wide-ranging [and] the record seems like her most political to date" - New Statesman
"Her fine new album is a diverse but coherent collection that jumps from unlikely genre to unlikely genre throughout... there are hypnotic chants, trippy electronica, off-kilter jazz and some seriously noisy punk" - The Arts Desk
"Unlike anything else she's ever done... on Black Rainbows you'll find Ultravox-ish eighties pop, eerie haunting jazz, metallic punk rock, punk-pop and European electronic oddities, lilting love and sexy, lounge ballads" - Echoes
"Black Rainbows is a spellbinding journey for both Bailey Rae and the listene, with both exploring new heights and their inner self. A musical reinvention like no other" - The Vinyl Factory
