Eight years on from her debut, the Salford chanteuse returns with a stunning second LP of liberation and survival **** 4 stars
On an album full of catharsis and confession, there is one particular lyric which leaps out on Ren Harvieu’s second LP, Revel In The Drama. “As soon as I stop making bad decisions / Oh world, watch out,” she sings on the crystalline pop gem ‘Tomorrow’s Girl Today’.
It’s an extremely telling lyric – one which touches on the tumultuous past few years the Salford-born singer has endured. Signed to Island Records at the age of 17 and tipped for superstardom at the start of the 2010s, Harvieu – whose stirring soul-pop once earned her comparisons to Dusty Springfield and Amy Winehouse – has suffered numerous setbacks since she released her debut LP, Through The Night. From life-changing personal adversity (she spent a long time in recovery after breaking her back in 2011) to professional obstacles (the process of finding a new label after separating from Island), Harvieu, by her own admission, wondered if she would ever make a return to the spotlight.
Now, eight years on from her debut LP, Harvieu has found a new record label (Bella Union) and, most crucially, a renewed sense of purpose. To all intents and purposes, her second LP, Revel In The Drama, feels more like a debut album – a vibrant, vital (re)introduction to an artist at the start of a new journey. Indeed, Harvieu has, in recent interviews, spoken about wanting her new music to fully represent all facets of herself: “The good and the bad,” she said. “We all have different versions of ourselves. Women are multi-dimensional beings – I want to celebrate that.”
Revel In The Drama most certainly lives up to that promise. Over the course of 12 stunning tracks – co-written with Romeo Stodart, singer and songwriter from Brit indie stalwarts The Magic Numbers – Harvieu delivers an album of tremendous nuance and personality. On the recent single ‘Teenage Mascara’, she’s playful and full of joie de vivre, like a sugar-rush Lana Del Rey. The slinky slow dance of ‘Yes, Please’ finds her at her most sensual and seductive. ‘Curves and Swerves’ combines country twang with a brilliant, biting feminist message. And most poignantly, on shimmering album standout ‘Little Raven’, she’s heart-wrenchingly self-aware, addressing her younger, more anxious self with words of encouragement.
What’s most impressive, though, is how Harvieu’s force of personality is matched by songs of equal poise and drama. Full of sweeping arrangements, old-school glamour and moments of heart-shattering intimacy – mirroring its author, Revel In The Drama is a record of ever-shifting light and shade.
Overcoming all manner of obstacles, Ren Harvieu has firmly wrestled her way back into the spotlight – and, in doing so, has delivered one of 2020’s most beautiful, soul-caressing albums. ‘Oh world, watch out’, indeed.
