"What a Devastating Turn of Events" Released: 28 February 2024
"It Is What It Is" Released: 19 April 2024
What a Devastating Turn of Events is the debut studio album by English singer-songwriter Rachel Chinouriri.[1][2] It was released on 3 May 2024 through Parlophone, with distribution from Atlas Artists.[2][3]
The album was supported by four singles: "The Hills",[4] "Never Need Me",[2][3] "What a Devastating Turn of Events"[5] and "It Is What It Is".[6][7] Upon its release, it received universal acclaim from critics.[8]
Background and recording
Kenny Beats was one of the producers who contributed to the creation of What a Devastating Turn of Events.
The album's creative process took place between Forestdale, Hereford and Los Angeles,[1] with collaborators including Rich Turvey, Kenny Beats,[13] Aaron Shadrow and Glen Roberts.[1] Chinouriri started writing and recording songs in England until early 2023, when she travelled to Los Angeles and stayed in the city for over a month, in order to avoid multiple plane trips due to her fear of flying.[1][14] However, she struggled to settle in the American city and connect creatively with other artists, aspects that had a negative impact on her mental health and the quality of her work.[1][13] As a result, she decided to move back to London to complete the record.[1]
The artist told Spin that she was actually planning to release a different album as her debut project back in 2020, but eventually decided to shelve it in order to work on new material that would be featured both on Four° In Winter and What a Devastating Turn of Events:[15]
I don't think I would have been happy for my other album to be [my] first album. [...] I sound really young and not confident in those songs. And I think I'm really confident in who I am now as an artist. [...] I don't want to say that this album is "woe is me", but this is the trauma-dump kind of vibe. The place I've been in mentally now is way different and a better place. The music I have should represent that place, essentially.
Music and lyrics
Chinouriri mainly defined What a Devastating Turn of Events as an indie rock album,[10][12] and stated that she wanted to recreate the visual and sonic aesthetics of the Britpop movement in the 1990s and 2000s,[10][16] while reclaiming her position in the indie scene, where Black female artists were still underrepresented.[1][12] She cited artists such as Oasis, The Libertines,[1][10]Coldplay, Lily Allen,[15]Noisettes and V V Brown as some of the sources of inspiration for the style she had adopted while writing the album.[12]
The album is thematically split in two sections, with the former including mostly lighter tracks, and the latter being made of songs that tackle heavier and darker topics.[1][13] Chinouriri told DIY the choice was intentional, saying quote:[13]
[The tracklist is meant to] replicate what I felt when I was growing up as a kid. Life could be super normal, but you're always anticipating something major to happen, [...] whether it was traumatic, whether it was a fight, whether it was an argument [or, as] I was raised in an all-white neighbourhood, whether it was a racism thing. I was always looking over my shoulder, anticipating something could happen, but it would always happen when I least expected it. [I wanted the album to convey] this false sense of security, [as you pass through the lighter first half,] then suddenly... boom! You've been hit with a very deep and dark song, and then everything changes...
The record's themes include references to the artist's feelings of frustration towards her experience in Los Angeles ("The Hills"),[1][17] her past love relationships ("Never Need Me" and "Dumb Bitch Juice")[13] and close people she fell out with ("All I Ever Asked" and "It Is What It Is"),[1] as well as the loss of a relative in Zimbabwe who died by suicide after finding out she was pregnant (the title track),[1][17]body dysmorphia ("I Hate Myself")[17] and the highs and lows of her family upbringing ("Garden of Eden").[15]
Release and promotion
Marketing and singles
Florence Pugh starred together with Chinouriri in the official music video for the single "Never Need Me".
The lead single from the album, "The Hills", was released on 12 October 2023, along with its accompanying music video.[4] On 15 January 2024, Chinouriri revealed the album's title during a cover interview with NME;[1] she then shared the tracklist and artwork of What a Devastating Turn of Events three days later,[2][18] while releasing the second single "Never Need Me",[2][3] accompanied by a music video starring the artist herself and Florence Pugh.[3][17] The album's title track was released as the third single on 28 February of the same year,[5] with its accompanying music video being shared on 18 March.[19] The fourth and final promotional single from the album, "It Is What It Is", was released on 19 April,[6] along with a visualizer.[7]
The album also contained two previous singles by Chinouriri:[2][3] the acoustic version of the 2018 single "So My Darling", which was originally released in January 2022 following the rise in popularity of the original song on TikTok,[1][20] and "All I Ever Asked", released in March of the same year[1] and originally included in her 2022 EPBetter Off Without,[21] before being shared by Sophie Turner in her Instagram Stories and subsequently go viral in December 2023.[1][10]
The album's artwork was revealed upon its announcement on 18 January 2024,[2][3] Shot by Yana Van Nuffel, it depicts Chinouriri in multiple poses both inside and in front of a council estate festooned with St George's Cross bunting, as a reference to the flag of England.[16] The artist told The Guardian that she decided to include the English flag in the cover art as "a celebration" of her British identity in spite of the racist abuse she faced growing up, saying quote: "No matter the trauma I've had from being raised in the UK, being Black British and being the only Black person in my neighbourhood, it's made me the person who I am".[16]
The cover art's purpose was subject of controversy, with Black studies professor Kehinde Andrews telling the BBC's Newsbeat that he would "question why anybody [would] want to reclaim something which is so connected to whiteness", in reference to systemic racism in the UK and the cultural appropriation of the English flag by the nationalist far-right.[22] While acknowledging the criticism, Chinouriri stated that "if art kind of makes you turn your head a little bit, it's doing the right thing".[22]
According to the review aggregator Metacritic, What a Devastating Turn of Events received "universal acclaim" based on a weighted average score of 83 out of 100 from eight critic scores.[8]
Writing for Clash, Robin Murray said the record was "littered with ideas, but also one that thrives on being succinct", noting how the title track was the only song on it to go over the four-minute mark, and praised Chinouriri's creativity and versatility, as the album "never [sat] in one place" and felt "zealous in its aspirational creativity".[23] Lauren Shirreff of The Daily Telegraph wrote that the project showed "the true scope of [the artist's musical influences]", including Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Coldplay, Lily Allen and Daughter, while also focusing on Chinouriri's decision to split the record in half thematically.[28] Noah Barker of The Skinny highlighted the artist's progress from her previous works, writing that she "[siphoned] every good idea from her previous EPs and [evolved] them into great ones".[32]
Writing for The Line of Best Fit, Sam Franzini gave positive feedback about the songwriting across the album, saying it "[charted] the highs and lows of life like a pro, finding humour in its dark moments and grace in its upswings".[29] Damien Morris of The Observer similarly praised Chinouriri's songwriting, as well as her vocal delivery, stating quote, "Ideas spill out of every crammed corner of this collection".[31] Daisy Carter of DIY showed appreciation for the album's thematic diversity, writing that it "honoured that life's lightness isn't contradicted by the dark moments, but rather co-exists alongside them".[24] Sophie Williams of NME also emphasized the emotional impact provided by the album as a whole, writing that "you can hear through these songs that Chinouriri's healing process is underway"; for the exact same reason, however, she noted how the inclusion of an acoustic version of the 2018 song "So My Darling" as the closer track created a "noticeably stark" gap with many other songs on the record.[26]
In a milder review for Far Out, Lucy Harbron questioned the decision to include older singles in the tracklist, as well as the "loss of nuance" on some of the more upbeat songs, while writing that the new material on the album showed "a clear progression and development" of Chinouriri's skills; as a result, she stated that the project felt "like an artist ready to fly, but still needing to believe she has wings".[25]
Year-end lists
Select year-end rankings for What a Devastating Turn of Events
'All I Ever Asked' does not appear on physical standard edition releases.
The 'Darlings Edition' features the digital standard edition tracklist, in addition to one new track and ten fan voice-notes throughout the album. It also features a voice-note from Chinouriri as bonus content.[35]
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