
- Lily Allen, James Blake, Blur, V V Brown, Coldplay, Daughter, Estelle, Girls Aloud, Kings of Leon, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, The Libertines, Kate Nash, Noisettes, Oasis, Phoenix, Sampha, Sugababes, Skunk Anansie
Rachel Chinouriri (born 1998) is an English indie pop/rock singer-songwriter.
She was born in Kingston upon Thames to Zimbabwean parents and grew up in Forestdale, Croydon and Hertfordshire. She attended the BRIT School.
Rachel began her career posting songs on SoundCloud and released her debut EP Mama's Boy (2019) via Marathon, the song from which "So My Darling" went viral. She signed with Parlophone to release the mini-album Four° in Winter (2021) and EP Better Off Without (2022), as well as singles like "All I Ever Asked". She played a number of festivals, and opened for Lewis Capaldi and Louis Tomlinson in 2023.
Her debut album What a Devastating Turn of Events was released in May 2024. The music video for the album's second single "Never Need Me" featured Florence Pugh.
Discography
- Mama's Boy (2019) (EP)
- Four° in Winter (2021) (mini-album)
- Better Off Without (2022) (EP)
- What a Devastating Turn of Events (2024)
Tropes:
- All Take and No Give: "All I Ever Asked" is about wanting your partner to show you a certain amount of love and respect, and realising they're not going to. The chorus goes, "Nothing compares to the trouble that I've been through", implying the narrator put a great level of effort into this relationship that her partner did not.
- Armour-Piercing Question: In "All I Ever Asked": "Just a little more time, was it really that hard to do? It was all I ever asked of you".
- Celebrity Cameo: The music video for her debut album's lead second "Never Need Me" featured Florence Pugh, playing her best friend.
- Death of a Child: "Robbed" is about a baby in her family who passed away. The narrator feels robbed of getting to know and form memories with this child.
- Flag Drop: The cover art for the single "The Hills" depicts her flying a large St George flag with the song title written on it. Makes sense as the song is a Homesickness Hymn.
- Genre Shift: Her early songs had some soul and electronic elements, before shifting towards more of an indie sound, which she has said is more authentic to her.
- Homesickness Hymn: "The Hills" was written during her first time visiting LA where she felt disconnected and out of place and longed for her friends and loved ones back in London. She was "told the grass is greener", but that was "just a fantasy".
- Love Cannot Overcome: "Never Need Me" is about moving on from someone who wasn't a bad person, but was stuck in a cycle of substance abuse and wouldn't get help despite having the resources and support network to do so.
- No Woman's Land: The titular track "What a Devastating Turn of Events" is based on a true story about a cousin in Zimbabwe who committed suicide after getting pregnant out of wedlock. She faced shame for it, but also couldn't get an abortion as that would "still be a crime". The lyrics allude to a "disappointing world" where "life's unfair for women".
- Spoken Word in Music: "It Is What It Is" features spoken sections and opens with her saying "Is he okay? Like, actually okay?"
