Alternative Press Release

Picture the scene: A 13-year-old Ray looking out over a Dorset valley, playing sax solos to a field of cows. “They always looked so bored,” says Ray. “I thought if I could get a reaction out of them, I could conquer a stone.”

This single-mindedness is what makes Ray stand out from the crowd. Fast-forward 18 years and Ray releases his first album, Recusant. This collection of ten beautiful, sad, uplifting original songs perfectly encapsulates all the idiosyncrasy and poignancy of this talented artist. He is an original. But he is humble enough to know his sound owes as much to what has come before as to his own vision.

“It’s not an album that’s out there seeking a new sound,” says Ray. “I like songs, and so I try to write songs. That’s what the album is about.”

Ably assisted by the production skills of Simply Red’s Tony Bowers, Ray has crafted a record that is both fresh and timeless. Inspired by some of Ray’s musical heroes, Bob Dylan, Robert Johnson, Daniel Lanois, Curtis Mayfield and Bono, Recusant has the feeling of space and air that only the best music can achieve.

But above all this is an intimate album. From the life-affirming call-to-arms of the title track, to the bittersweet poetry of the almost Tom Waites-sounding Some Kind of Sweet Love, and right on to the closing track, Summer Space, Ray is singing it straight to each and every one of us. Mix in the sublime Walking On and lyrical ingenuity of Riding Rhymes and you have yourself one hell of a debut record.

Perhaps this feeling of intimacy accounts for some of Ray’s success. On the back of virtually no marketing, the album got Ray to the number 2 spot in the MySpace top-artist UK charts, with his play count approaching the half million mark. Such popularity earned Ray got a publishing deal with Sony which allowed him to release some of his songs on iTunes through Massive Arts. He is currently engaged in a 25-date US tour, interspersed with some European club gigs, and has already played over 40 shows all over Europe.

Ray may think he is just writing songs because he likes them, but these songs are touching people all over the world. “Once in Germany, after a show, a whole family of eight came to hug me,” tells Ray. “They were telling me they were crying during my song So Easy and thanking me because they hadn’t been crying together for a long time.”