Rae Morris – Rachel@Fairyland

Label: RCA Records
Released: 8th July 2022

The third full-length from Rae Morris, ‘Rachel@ Fairyland’ is her most honest record yet. After record label turmoil, here she finds new creative freedoms and confidence to make the album she always wanted to make, with tracks like ‘Skyscraper Love’ feeling like her “butterfly out of a cocoon” moment.

Named for her MSN handle (remember those?) and finding its roots in her hometown of Blackpool, it’s both nostalgic and marking the next chapter of her life, as she moves to London, falls in love – with co-writer Fryars – embraces motherhood, and finds her feet.

Rae narrates her inner torment of becoming an adopted Londoner in standout track ‘Running Shoes’, where she talks of feeling torn in a monumental to her homesickness: “See that you’re okay, and catch up on all your news, but I’ve got a life in the South now too, put on my running shoes, I’ll run home to you.” Album opener ‘No Woman Is An Island’ too is a highlight, a song that untangles some of her previous experiences in the music industry and with sexism.

‘Rachel@Fairyland’ characterises a personal coming of age, drawing on influences like Björk and Joanna Newsom and offering up a one-way ticket to the dreamscape of Fairyland.