At a Glance
- RAYE wrote her upcoming second album mostly sober, a stark contrast to her 2023 debut
- The 28-year-old Grammy nominee says she now drinks wine only occasionally and no longer uses alcohol to “numb or escape”
- Rediscovering her Christian faith played a crucial role in her recovery from substance abuse
- Why it matters: Fans will hear a more grounded, disciplined artist confronting past trauma through music
RAYE is embracing clarity. The British pop star, who appears on the February 2026 cover of ELLE, told the magazine that her forthcoming second album was crafted with a clear mind and a new relationship with alcohol.
The shift is dramatic. While creating My 21st Century Blues, RAYE admits she was “up in the clouds, rolling a blunt.” Now, she prefers the discipline that sobriety brings. “I like that I’ve come down to earth to write these lyrics. I prefer myself like this,” she said.
A New Creative Process
The Grammy-nominated singer, born Rachel Keen, explained that abstinence has become a “beautiful thing” in her life. She still enjoys an occasional glass of wine, but the days of drinking to “fix or bury or numb or escape” are behind her.
This change permeates the new record, which currently has no title or release date. The lyrics reflect someone who has repaired significant damage from a past life where she felt “entirely disconnected” from her family.
“I was a world away from that,” RAYE said. “I was a very different person to who I am now, even though I may present the same or be able to put on the mask and play the part.”
Confronting Past Struggles
Substance abuse featured heavily in RAYE’s breakthrough hit “Escapism,” a 2023 track that detailed drowning sorrows in alcohol and drugs. Speaking to the BBC that same year, she described how trauma and substance abuse became intertwined.
“When you keep things in… they eat away at you from the inside,” she told the BBC. “For me, sadly, substance abuse was entangled with numbing the trauma that I had experienced. I got pretty deep in and it got really dangerous at one point.”
Faith became her anchor. RAYE credits rediscovering her Christian beliefs with pulling her back from the brink. “There’s a world in which if I didn’t find faith again, I might not even be here,” she told ELLE. “It’s honestly pulled me out of a really dark place.”
Behind the Music
The singer has never shied away from discussing industry battles. After a public split from her former record label, she released My 21st Century Blues independently. That experience shaped her desire for transparency in her art.
In a 2023 interview with News Of Los Angeles, RAYE explained her motivation: “As someone who struggled with a lot of different subjects in silence and on my own, for this album I really wanted to lift the lid on the smoke and mirrors that even I felt like I needed to uphold for so many years.”
She added, “To be honest, some of the stuff I’m discussing, some of my closest friends don’t even know – which is weird because I’m an open book.”
Key Takeaways
- RAYE’s second album represents a creative rebirth, written from a place of sobriety and self-reflection
- The 28-year-old artist has transformed her relationship with alcohol, moving from self-medication to occasional, mindful consumption
- Family reconnection and Christian faith serve as central pillars in her recovery and current creative process
- Fans can expect lyrics that strip away the “smoke and mirrors” of her earlier career
If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, please contact the SAMHSA helpline at 1-800-662-HELP.
