RRILEY has released her new single ‘you should have said so’ on the 19th of November via 465, a label conjured up by Zendyll and The Kennel Asia.
View this post on Instagram
Lyrically, the track takes from RRILEY’s pet peeve with people who are unable to be upfront with their feelings. When asked about the song's writing process, she tells Hear65: "People who know me personally will know that I'm not a person that holds grudges; I'm all good vibes, I really have no time for drama. Whatever happened yesterday or before, if it's something negative, I literally cannot remember. And I just let it go."
"So when I had this song, and I was writing about it, I was frustrated, I was upset, I was very, very hurt. But I knew that I wanted to put it into a song, and then I could move on. So it's kind of like encapsulating that part of my life and all those feelings that I've had, and then just putting it into a world of its own - and then releasing it into the world.
View this post on Instagram
The track was birthed amidst lockdowns and restrictions, and so the ex-Willow got creative with it. Speaking on her songwriting and production process, she goes on to share: "I wrote the track at home with my housemate Kure (aka Clement Ng) who's also my really good friend, who's also a producer, and a musician. And then I also had the help of Haneri (aka Daphne Khoo) who helped me with the lyrics and we basically wrote a song together, three of us at home."
"I was recording in my cupboard with towels and blankets and all that. I went inside the cupboard to record my vocals, and some of it is still on the track that you hear today, which is pretty, pretty cool. "
Timed in at 2 minutes, the track was produced by Claire Chew, and HVT Entertainment's creative head RIIDEM; "I brought it to the studio with RIIDEM and Claire where they really kind of took it to the next level in terms of production, and I already knew them prior to working together - we’re friends already, so it was really cool to do a track with people that I knew. I trust all of them, and I know that they’re all so talented, so whatever ideas they had would definitely elevate the track."
View this post on Instagram
It also features the use of unconventional items to create distinctive notes and sounds, alluding to a sort of do-it-yourself transition that surrounds the now independent artist. "We poured water, that's one of the most obvious sounds that you can hear from the track. Then, we used an air freshener, we used a deck of cards where we flipped them, made tapping noises, we opened up a can, my phone buzzing, a ball in the cup, and if you can hear that, it makes a really cool sound. It was all really brought out for spatial audio, especially. This has been an idea that I've always wanted to try and I'm just glad I finally have an opportunity to put it into a song."
'you should have said so' also has a spatial audio version available on Apple Music.
View this post on Instagram
Accompanying the release of 'you should have said so' is its music video, which RRILEY describes as her being 'puppeted'. Without hesitation, she goes on to tie this in with her track, and what it all encapsulates coming full circle. When quizzed on the ghastly movements and disarrayed motions she employs, the performer says it was all part of the narrative.
View this post on Instagram
"When people aren't honest with you, it's like a one-way relationship. You make the best decisions you can make, based on the information that you've had at that time. So obviously, if you're trusting and you believe that this person has your back, you’re just gonna go along. But if you knew about it sooner that you're just being 'puppeted', it’s not a cool feeling to do things that you would not have naturally chosen to do. In the music video, there's a lot of pull and push."
"It was a very tiring shoot - like 16 hours. It was very physical for me, so there was a lot of dancing, or I would say more like movement, rather than dance because it’s not the stuff that I've released before. So this has been very cathartic in a way, because when I was working with my choreographer, Syazwan Rahmad, it's me moving according to how I feel to the song in a way, [involving] a lot of contemporary and abstract ideas."
Watch the music video which features scenes recorded on an iPhone 13 Pro here.
Speaking on how it felt like to release a brand new track after a year, she shared: "I was very nervous because it has been a while since I've released anything, and this track is quite different from the stuff that I've released before. So I'm like, 'Oh, okay, how is this gonna play? How are people gonna react?"
"But I can safely say that this is one of the rawest things that I've released or created in a while. So I'm very, very proud of it. I'm just hoping that people relate to it and that they enjoy whatever that I’ve released."
In closing, we also got up to speed with what she's been doing outside of music, and a gander at her social media pages tells you everything you'd need to know. "I've been wakeboarding for I guess about two years now. But I never expected myself to wakeboard, because people always think that I'm very fearless, and that I love adrenaline but then I have to correct them; I am a mild adrenaline junkie," she shares. It says a lot about the character she exudes, which reverberates throughout her life, and works as an ethos not just for her hobbies but her work and passions as well.
View this post on Instagram
"I put quite a lot of time into it, and the feeling of going out there and just hitting those small little milestones; it gets crazier and crazier. When you finally try it and attempt it, you realize it's not that far, it's not that unachievable. And then you start working towards a goal, a lot of failures, a lot of crashes. A lot of pain."
"But when you finally get it, that feeling is just incredible. Wakeboarding gave me the confidence to skateboard, to try surf skatig - and I've never been a board sports person. I grew up rollerblading, so it’s always two feet going forward. But when I tried doing things sideways, it was so hard. But then like you realize, yeah, you know what, you can learn it, your body can adapt, and your body will adapt, which is incredible. The human body is amazing."
The track was first teased at ARtistry@Somerset which launched earlier this year in August. Prior to ‘you should have said so’, RRILEY released a 6-track EP in 2020 titled ALPHA which notably features a cross-border collaboration with Malaysian rapper Zamaera on the track ‘Fire’.
Listen to ‘you should have said so’ here, and leave your review on Hear65.
