Raye likely brightened the days of many a commuter by performing her new song “Genesis” on an unconventional stage: a Selhurst train station platform.
In a video posted by the British pop star Thursday, shortly before the sprawling, seven-minute track dropped, Raye looks glamorous in a polka-dot gown while singing just a couple of feet away from the tracks. She’s accompanied by a dapper-looking jazz band that continues playing even when a loud train whizzes past behind them.
“Genesis will be yours at midnight,” she captioned the clip.
True to her word, the 26-year-old star dropped the track right on time Friday (June 7). It marks her first release since she made history at the 2024 Brits by breaking the record for most wins and nominations for an artist in a single year — winning six prizes from her seven nods. In addition to picking up the trophies for best new artist, best R&B act, British artist of the year and songwriter of the year, she was also awarded British album of the year for her debut record My 21st Century Blues, which reached No. 58 on the Billboard 200.
Plus, Raye received song of the year for her 070 Shake-assisted “Escapism,” which peaked at No. 22 on the Billboard Hot 100 last year.
Fans in her comments section loved the London native’s innovative performance space, as did a few famous friends. SZA wrote adoringly under the train station video, “Everything about you,” while Leigh-Anne Pinnock added, “Epic.”
Raye previously described “Genesis” as “a 7 minute labour of love I have been working on since 2022.” “It kind of hurts a bit to call this piece of music a ‘single’ because it is so much more than just a song to me,” she continued in the May Instagram post. “I have chipped away at, scrutinised, replaced, redone, passionately sculpted this song.”
Watch Raye perform “Genesis” on a train station platform below.
