Reneé Rapp has been on a whirlwind journey from cult high-school theatre queen to Broadway star to alt-pop sensation and has touched on almost everything in between. Ahead of the release of her debut album Snow Angel, set to become the biggest female debut of the year, the singer was kind enough to give Ascribe an insight into where her head was at during the making of the record and to share her excitement for what will undoubtedly be a landmark stage for her career.
Lovingly declaring that “music was always mommy,” when discussing her multifaceted work journey through stage and studio, Rapp has grown in confidence and renown since putting out her earlier work and has reached a sonic coherence with Snow Angel, that cements her status as an indie-pop prodigy. She attributes this success and self-establishment to those around her, most notably the women and non-men and above all, her best friend Alyah Chanelle Scott, who doubles as her music video director for masterpieces such as “Talk Too Much.” The video was, as Rapp describes, “super fun but a mindfuck to figure out,” referring to the ambition of herself and her best friend in the elaboration and creation of a concept which only truly materialised a day or so before the shoot took place. The music itself is far less spontaneous and the album is demonstrably considered. Having ultimately grown up a theatre fanatic, the singer is to this day inspired by the incredible writing of the craft, heavily impacting the candid, grounded nature of her own lyrics.
In terms of soundscape, Rapp claims to absorb the work of artists and sounds that inspire her, especially identifying RnB as a genre which she feels attuned to, and to recapitulate those ideas, adding in her own nuance as she goes. Drawing upon her own past relationships within this album, the singer also makes reference to the support she has received from the queer community when performing music related to her experience as a bisexual woman. “Pretty Girls” details the complexity of navigating a heteronormative world and is illustrative of heartbreakingly thoughtful songwriting paired with up-tempo, dreamy beats in juxtaposition.
Reneé Rapp insists that her achievement is driven by a whimsical sense of delusion, a belief that she is able to and will conquer the world. With every track she releases, this becomes more and more of a reality. The singer concludes that Snow Angel has aided her in finding out more answers about herself than questions, though the main resolution she comes away with is that she will always be introspective and curious to learn from within. If her new album is at all reflective of where she is at personally, she should be extremely proud and her listeners will be thankful for her sharing such an intimately impressive body of work.
You can stream ‘Snow Angel’ here:
