Indie folk-rock group The Rayes, fronted by sisters Rebecca and Jordan, are on the countdown to releasing their second studio album, Limb Pulled Taut, to be released on the 27th of September. Two singles have already dropped, “Thoughts” and “Before You Go”, and today we are thrilled to be premiering the third, “Sister Jane” ahead of its release on Friday. Not only that, we also have the accompanying video, a homage to the iconic clip for “Dancing In The Street” from icons David Bowie and Mick Jagger.
Rebecca and Jordan hail from Seattle in the US, and relocated to Melbourne a few years ago. “Sister Jane” examines that feeling of dislocation, of missing those small but vivid touchstones that we associate with our formative years. It’s a feel-good tune, acknowledging the wish and desire to feel connected to that place which still means so much. It should resonate with so many in Australia, who are living in a country other than where they were born and raised.
Their bones may have been as a folk-duo, but The Rayes have brought the party to “Sister Jane”. It’s bright and breezy, with wave after wave of joyous harmonies, spliced with some ripper horns and killer guitars. A driving beat and emphatic keys keeps it bursting with energy. Folk music may be their roots, but “Sister Jane” is a total jam.
About the inspiration for the film clip, the band writes: “If you’ve never seen Bowie and Mick Jagger’s ‘Dancing In The Street’ music video, you are doing yourself a disservice. We had a tradition in the studio of watching random movies and music video clips on mute up on a little TV screen in the corner of the mixing room. One of us referenced the ‘Dancing In The Street’ music video, so we popped it on the TV, muted in the background while we were listening back to what we had just recorded of ‘Sister Jane,’ and we all burst out laughing at how perfect the song fit over the Bowie x Jagger music video. And thanks to our producer, Rob’s ingenious suggestion to emulate the ‘Dancing In The Street’ video, we felt like there was no other music video we could have made for this song.
This music video was an absolute BLAST to film. Our director, Guy and his DP, Mike would run in circles around us while Rebecca and I stomped our feet as fast as we could in the middle of the street in the pitch dark, or did some hops and shimmies in the cheesiest Bowie-Mick Jagger style we could muster.”
You can read much more about the genesis of “Sister Jane” below. Jordan has shared with the AU the background to the track. We love the detail!
As with the other songs which will appear on their twelve-track LP, Limb Pulled Taut, the production duties were undertaken by Robert Muinos (Julia Jacklin, Didirri, Nat Vazer) in Melbourne. They recall themes of identity, yearning, and a witty reflection to sweeping emotion. They were largely recorded live in the studio.
“Sister Jane” will be released this Friday, 23rd August. Be sure to pre-save it HERE.
Jordan and “Sister Jane”
Rebecca and I moved from our hometown of Seattle to New York City in 2019. I’d never felt a stronger connection to ‘home’ until I moved away – in Brooklyn I found myself looking for answers and longing to feel grounded again. I haven’t lived permanently back in the Pacific Northwest for many years now, so homesickness is no novelty to me. I get a kind of antsy feeling that creeps over me, like anxiety but with a tinge of nostalgia and a palpable feeling of distance. This is when I know I’m missing home.
We loved living in New York, but it was immensely different than where we grew up in Seattle by the mountains and the sea. And then I thought, “why not go even further away?! Like to the other side of the world!” No, that wasn’t the thought in my mind, but we always felt like we’ve been searching for an indie music community that we felt embraced by – and that was Melbourne – which happened to be on the other side of the world. So here we are. I still feel that pull to the Pacific Northwest, and to family and friends back home. And I still miss the dense, mossy Pine forests when I walk under the Eucalyptus, and the deep, sparkly waters of the Salish Sea.
‘Sister Jane’ is the oldest of our songs included on our album, and it has carried on with us through the years. I wrote it sitting in our little Brooklyn apartment that had green walls, a crooked floor, and what looked like wooden scaffolding from floor to ceiling in the bedroom. People were feeding the chickens food pellets from a gumball machine through the fence across the street, and our little mouse friend nibbled crumbs in the kitchen. It’s not hard to find quirkiness in that city.
The song pulls imagery from back home, ‘fly on a river,’ ‘cold water on my feet,’ and ‘jagged stones’ like those you find on Pacific Northwest beaches. The concrete jungle was getting to me, but I was torn. I loved NY, but I loved home. I wanted to follow the music, but be near my family. ‘Sister Jane’ was the name of a bar that I frequented in Manhattan, and a friend and customer of mine from the cafe I worked at was a bartender there. She was the kind of woman you meet who just seems like they have all the answers – wise beyond their years and a deep soul – but make her a born-and-raised New Yorker. While writing this song, I imagined asking her how to feel grounded and connected so far away from home – ‘how to get back to my roots?’
‘Sister Jane’ didn’t come together in recorded form until Melbourne, and thank goodness it didn’t because the song wouldn’t be what it is without George’s guitar solo and dazzling drums, Guy’s jabby keys, and those hectic horns and elated, beer-fueled chatter at the end. And our producer, Rob, was like a magician in the booth, conjuring up the most perfect, raw guitar tones, and helping the tune come to life. I can’t remember a time we had more fun or laughed harder recording a song than when we went into the studio to record this one. ‘Sister Jane’ is full of energy and charisma, and this perfectly reflects the experience we had in the studio and the chaotic feel of being pulled in multiple directions.
You can keep up to date with The Rayes via their website, Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Spotify and Apple Music
Header image credit: Marcus Coblyn
