Track Review: Serendipity // Carolee Rainey
Not a wallflower or shy violet at all, Carolee Rainey has always been bold, confident and not afraid to take on the world. As a teenager, she ran away from the music conservatory she was attending, caught a train with nothing but her guitar and a small bag of belongings, and eventually found herself performing at hotels, dive bars, cruise ships and busking on the streets of Santa Cruz, California. After landing up in Los Angeles, the US-based artist applied for a job at Atlantic Records, got the job and is now the sole A&R girl on the West Coast for Country Nashville. Now if that isn’t a fierce, independent, badass woman then I don’t know what is!
Along with her rebellious, free spirit, Carolee creates music as an independent singer-songwriter. Drawing together the intimacy and sass of Joni Mitchell and Ella Fitzgerald with the tenderness of Ed Sheeran, her music has an old-school attitude with a contemporary twist. The latest addition to her well-received discography is the single ‘Serendipity’.
Following her well-received track ‘Orbit’, ‘Serendipity’ draws together elements of folk, pop and indie rock. Her personality oozes from the track with its confident, bold, rich and “in your face” arrangement. Yet, while there is a brashness interwoven into the melody, the song is highly soothing, gentle and simplistic. Acoustic-driven, Carolee showcases her emotive musicality and how minimalist soundscapes can be as kaleidoscopic as a full-band backing.
Known for writing music about life in general, ‘Serendipity’ looks at our world and how it influences our state of being. Carolee explains that ‘Serendipity’ is inspired by nature – “…as a human race our behaviours have been so unpredictable these last many years that I used the sun, moon and rain as teachers to learn from to transcend my own inner weakness into strength.” The first single from her innovative upcoming album Synchronicity, ‘Serendipitiy’ is an intoxicating song ensnaring your senses from the first note.