The first single from New York artist, Carolee Rainey’s forthcoming album has just dropped and we’ve been taking a listen her at the Send Me Your Ears studio today.
Serendipity is a simple country/folk/ pop ballad that takes nature as inspiration. Carolee states that “As a human race our behaviors have been so unpredictable these last many years that I used the sun, moon and rain as teachers to learn from to transcend my own inner weaknesses into strength.”
Starting on gentle guitars with some sidestick style drums, Serendipity eases you in slowly. When Carolee’s voice comes in, it quickly becomes very much the focal point. High in the mix and confident sounding, Carolee’s vocal demands attention.
Sounding very much like Toyah Wilcox in places with the nuances in her voice, Rainey also has moments where the voice becomes more of a spoken word aside to her listener – a little like Shania Twain’s, “That Don’t Impress Me Much”.
Harmonies come and go throughout the song, bolstering the lead vocals and filling in some gaps. There are moments in the vocal – particularly the pre-chorus, where you feel as though they style of the song has suddenly got much more “poppy” with some far more modern pop stylings in the delivery.
The chorus line is repeated and quickly feels comfortable, just like any typical country song. It draws you in and you quickly realise that you recognise it the second time around. It helps make it feel like a song you’ve head before.
From Carolee’s biography, it sounds as though Carolee Rainey has lived within the music scene for most of her life, but is only now starting to find her feet as a songwriter. She speaks of years of “playing dive bars, hotels, and cruise ships” and how her forthcoming album is a long awaited piece of work and of love.
Serendipity is a song that sounds as if, after years of searching, Carolee Rainey is finally finding herself and her place in this world. It is a song of calm acceptance and peace.