Women of Modern UK Jazz
27 October 2025
In that time, she has performed at a host of notable venues, including the Jazz Cafe, Village Underground, and now, for a second time, The Elgar Room at The Royal Albert Hall for her first sellout performance.
The New Age Magazine caught up with Raelle after her show for a Fantasy Festival Q and A.
She takes us from Norwich, to London, to France and even to Latin America, as she talks us through her journey so far, as well as her hopes, dreams and ultimate music festival fantasies.
Raelle today you will be headlining your own fantasy festival, we’ll be discussing your dream venue, food, drink, and guest artists as well as your songwriting philosophy and your journey so far – Shall we take it back to the start – St Laurence Church in Norwich for Wild Paths Festival 2021, your first festival performance and I was blessed to catch it…
What do you remember about that day?
Yeah, it was very surreal for me, I could barely even digest the fact I was performing at a festival.
It was very soon after I had started releasing music, so it was pretty like ‘whoa, this is a big thing for me’. It was a great day though, and it’s a beautiful venue.
How have things changed in the 3 years or so between that performance at Wild Paths and yesterday’s performance at The Elgar Room?
What hasn’t changed? Everything’s changed I think.
Before I was very much still finding my voice, my feet, what I wanted to stand for, and what I wanted to sound like.
I think I’ve grown within those three years, the way I look at music is super different and how I make music is really different.
I really want my shows to be an immersive experience. I want to bring the audience into my world, and inside the songs with me. I think doing this is one of the biggest changes to how I perform.
They are both stunning locations, and you’ve played at plenty of others in between, what’s been your favourite venue to play?
Oh my God. My favorite? I really liked Village Underground supporting Marie Dhalstrom, that was sick, a really beautiful venue. I’ve seen so many acts there and then I was on the stage, I was like ohh OK, this is different now, that one felt like a really big deal for me.
But this is your Fantasy Festival – What would be your dream venue or destination?
It has to be somewhere hot by the sea. It would be a mix of party and chill. Holistic, but also carnival style partying!
There would definitely be an eclectic bunch of people in the crowd, and on stage, and I’d be there moshing in the middle! The day would end with us all chilling at the beach.
The first people are arriving at your festival! They’re super excited for the day ahead but they are going to need some sustenance. At your Fantasy Festival what food and drink is everyone having?
I really enjoy Latin American food and culture, so I’d probably have Colombian or Mexican food!
I’ll go for crispy prawn tacos with guac, rice, beans and cheese.
And to drink spicy margaritas with a chilli rim!
Now whilst you prepare for your fantasy festival headline performance tonight, we have some of your recent collaborators keeping the crowd entertained – you worked with S.Fidelity, Collard and Gabiga on the single ‘Stolen’ released in November last year…What was it like working with all of them?
They are my brothers for real! I love them all.
It was such a beautiful experience as well the way that song came together, it was at this writing camp in France.
S. fidelity, and I had been working together throughout the week, and it had come to the last day of the camp. We were sitting in this beautiful studio in the South of France and I just started playing this bass line, and then Gabiga got on the drums and started playing, then Collard started singing his verse. It all happened so organically.
I think that’s how a lot of my new stuff is in the way that it’s happening. There’s a really organic process in the way it’s being made, and sounds, even the choice of words I’m using as well.
I’m seeing S.Fidelity in Berlin soon to work on a new project!
The time has come for you to take the stage. The crowd has been waiting for this moment. One of the reasons people are so excited to see you perform is for your lyricism. You’ve said in previous interviews music isn’t just about what sounds good, it’s about communication – your newest EP Bloodlines is a homage to the Windrush Generation and it’s crafted around a really beautiful and thought-provoking spoken word interlude…
How important is it still to write music that brings attention and gives voices to people and events from history and the modern day?
I try to have a message or story at the core of my songs, that way it lasts because it has that resonance.
I don’t think that the human experience is something that is particularly changeable. I feel like people have experienced the same kind of range of emotions throughout history, but they just look different throughout different time periods through different lenses, but the feeling is always the same.
If you’re able to capture that feeling in words, and then bring it out even more with the music, then I think you create a timeless piece.
Who or what influenced your songwriting philosophy and attitude?
I really like people who are just honest. You can feel it through the music, the vulnerability. Donny Hathaway is a great example. I think his lyrics are so sensitive and careful.
Amy Winehouse as well. Her lyrics are super honest and raw. Anything that feels honest to me, it doesn’t have to be a particular genre.
The night is coming to an end. The boys join you to perform ‘Stolen’, the crowd are loving it. You’ve got one last track to sing…
What’s your favourite song you’ve ever written to close your performance on, and if you could have any guest to help you perform it, who would it be?
I really like ‘Round Round’ and I want to get Erykah Badu to sing it with me.
I feel like she would have a good flow on that song, and I think she’d like it because it’s kind of spiritual too.
The crowd doesn’t want it to end. They’ve spent the day on the beach, eating prawn tacos, getting slightly too tipsy on spicy margaritas and watching an immense line up, capped off with that surprise Erykah Badu appearance.
If there is one important message you hope to convey in your music, or in life generally, to everyone watching out in front of you, what would it be?
Trust yourself. Yeah, I think you know yourself better than you think you do.
The festival draws to a close, everyone starts heading home from the beach, shoes filled with sand will be a reminder in the coming days of such a wonderful occasion. To cheer everyone up, what can they look forward to from you in the near future?
I’ve got 3 big collaborations coming (they’re a secret but you’re going to love them), a new single towards the end of the year, before a new project in 2025.
