Drawing us in with the sound of approaching footsteps on wood, expanding with brooding piano chords, textured percussion, cerebral motifs and a meditative frequency, Ravens Beats and Vii Dorsey open Trauma with vulnerability and a high emotional quotient.
Vii shares a sublime and immersive vocal with trip-hop adjacency and echoed effects as she sings, “Can I recognise these old emotions, here they are back again, it starts to get a little bit deeper, my heart starts to freeze, my stomach is like waves of a hurricane, why can’t you understand my pain?”
We immediately connect with the deep-rooted authenticity and the cinematic allure of the track. There is no doubt that Trauma was written from a place of pain and, in a sense, it feels cathartic now. We could imagine this being featured in a film like the Oscar-winning, One Battle After Another, or a TV show like First Kill on Netflix or Euphoria on HBO.
On the concept of Trauma, Ravens Beats opens up by saying, “This single talks about trauma I’ve experienced. I lost my late partner in 2015 due to mental health, at the time he suggested that I had sleep apnoea which actually saved my life I had an intensive operation to help me breathe, and mental plates in my face, the album cover is a actually picture of my skull when I had the operation! My mission is to help others with their mental health and spread awareness as much as possible to start these conversations!”
Speaking on the topic of influences, Ravens Beats confesses, “Ren was one of my biggest influence as he has been so brave and courageous in starting those conversations with mental health! Others include Olivia Dean, Skye Newman, and Norah Jones.”
We feel that fans of 90s bands like Morcheeba, Portishead and Massive Attack would also be able to connect with what Ravens Beats has created. The guitar inflections and sublime solo, plus the string arrangement that emerges and the overarching vocal production all tap into this trip-hop vibe. We also appreciate the full circle final moments with the reemergence of the footsteps.
Needless to say, we are in awe, and have added Trauma to our New Music Spotlight playlist, and our TIMELESS and TRIPPY playlists, whilst we anticipate future releases from Ravens Beats.