UK Musician Rachel Chinouriri came onto my radar earlier this year with her excellent single “Darker Place.” Drawn in by catchy claps and whispery coos, the song drops into hypnotic romp as it seduces you further into its drama and spookiness. The Croydon-born singer—whose voice is able to slink into tender grooves and expand into affecting croons—released her debut EP in 2019 titled Mama’s Boy. Today she dropped her second EP, Four° in Winter, which features “Darker Place” along with a whole bunch of other excellent songs. Four° in Winter opens with the devastating waltz “Give Me a Reason,” where Chinouriri pleads for a cause to fall out of love. From there, we’re let into the raw heartache and paralyzing darkness of questioning your own existence.
On Four° in Winter, there are moments of both spine-chilling stillness and funky blends of electronic boppage. On “Lose Anything,” a sparse guitar introduces Chinouriri as she unpacks the uneasiness of her emotions and self-doubt. “Pain can make you wiser / Recognize any time this life is nearly over,” she sings unguardedly. It’s the kind of vulnerability and candidness that singer-songwriter and producer Sampha contains in his music. The way she sings of emotions, surrounded by shivers of synths and protected by percussion, it’s as if she’s trying to maintain the structures of dried flowers—as they wither with time, her delivery is undoubtedly more precious and precise.
After listening to the EP about six or seven times, I still can’t pick a favorite track. Hear it all below.
