If any one artist captures the current devil-may-care genre-hopping approach to music-making, then it’s Rachel Chinouriri. The songwriter has fought to have her music taken out of one-note categories, instead asserting that her sound is, essentially, alternative. If 2019 EP ‘Mama’s Boy’ served note of her intention, and 2022’s magnetic ‘Better Off Without’ upped the ante still further, then magnificent debut album ‘What A Devastating Turn Of Events’ is Rachel Chinouriri in full flight. Bold, independent, and truthful, it’s an excellent example of audio world-building, a 360 vision of her day-to-day. All the genre terms in the world are insufficient – this is Rachel’s music, and we’re here to listen.
Built with hugely experienced lead producer Rich Turvey, and with input from multiple voices – including hip-hop don and sometime IDLES collaborator Kenny Beats – this is a record littered with ideas, but also one that thrives on being succinct. Only one song – the engrossing title track – goes over the four minute mark, with Rachel instead designing punchy postcards of her lived experience.
Opener ‘Garden Of Eden’ writhes with its PIXIES-esque guitars, while layers of shoegaze sound dominate the 90s production on ‘The Hills’. Instant fan-favourites, they lead into the gorgeous ‘Never Need Me’, with its pointed, piquant vocal and revelatory lyric.
—
—
A thrilling, needle-to-the-red experience, ‘What A Devastating Turn Of Events’ never sits in one place. For all the warped sonic effects of ‘My Everything’ she also knows when to play it straight – witness the carefree whistling on ‘It Is What It Is’ or the precocious innocence of perfect pop jewel ‘All I Ever Asked’.
Working in tandem with long-time collaborator Daniel Hylton-Nuamah, Rachel has found a way to meld her influences, while never being over-powered by them. The final third of the record strips away the gloss – ‘Cold Call’ has a lo-fi intimacy, while the self-excoriating ‘I Hate Myself’ is a tough but vital listen.
Moving towards the ambitious closer, ‘So My Darling’ is technically impressive – those multi-layered vocal parts must have taken months to perfect – but also emotionally gilded, a suitably grand finale for a record that is zealous in its aspirational creativity. Closing a lengthy wait for her debut album, Rachel Chinouriri proves that every moment was necessary on a defining triumph.
8/10
Words: Robin Murray
—
