With waves lapping 10 feet away, Corinne Bailey Rae sits at a beach-side breakfast bar on the first morning of her stay in St Lucia, experiencing déjà vu. We knew she’d been to the island three months earlier, playing at its annual jazz festival (and if we didn’t, the huge billboard at St Lucia’s airport would have informed us). What we hadn’t banked on was bringing her back to the same resort.
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‘I’m even staying in the same villa,’ she says, marvelling at the coincidence. ‘Same pool, same sea view – but I’m glad, because it’s amazing.’
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Several thousand miles away from her native Leeds, the 31-year-old Like A Star singer, easily looks 10 years younger. Dressed in a childlike white sun-dress, no make-up and her trademark big hair tamed into two plaits, she tells us why else she’s happy to be here. ‘My dad’s from St Kitts,’ she says tucking into a plate of Caribbean-style pancakes. ‘I recognised it when we flew over the coast because I’ve got tea towels with maps on.’
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Despite flashing plenty of big, friendly smiles over breakfast, Corinne quickly points out she’ll be adopting a more sultry expression when the camera starts clicking, as she’s trying to distance herself from the carefree girl who ran through barley fields in the video for her 2006 hit single Put Your Records On. ‘That was a sunny, breezy song, so I wanted a sunny, breezy video,’ she explains, before revealing that, because the grass was razor sharp, it ripped her legs to shreds, meaning those smiles actually shone through gritted teeth. It turned out to be my most well-known song, so people have this image of me that’s lovely and sweet, so when I was co-producing the new album, I kept saying to myself, “I want to make this more aggressive”.’
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Perhaps another reason Corinne wants to move away from the happy-go-lucky perception is because, in March 2008, her life was turned upside down when her husband Jason Rae, who she met at university and married in 2001, died of an accidental drugs overdose. The musician, who played in Mark Ronson’s band, passed away when a curious dabble with his friend’s prescription methadone took a turn for the worst. The coroner ruled death by misadventure.
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A devastated Corinne was half-way through completing her second album The Sea when tragedy struck and used song writing to channel the pain. But the album, as a whole, is less sombre than you might expect, with Closer, her latest single, being a seductive funk number with a nod to 70s R’n’B.
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‘I had a massive break in-between recording the first six songs and the last songs. But I didn’t ever think, “I must get back to writing my album”,’ she says quietly. ‘I was very surprised to find myself looking out the window, finding new things, writing descriptions, writing melodies. I sometimes couldn’t believe I was doing it, but I guess it’s something I just do.’
It’s obvious Corinne is still coming to terms with her loss, but she maintains a cheery disposition during the trip, honouring ‘Jase’s’ memory in subtle ways. Over dinner she laughs about an obscure Scottish TV comedy that no-one but him found funny, and before our photoshoot she slips three platinum bands onto her wedding finger.
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Despite the brave face, having already embarked on the American leg of her tour, you can’t help wondering how she stays strong when she performs the more emotionally charged songs written about Jason’s death, like I Would Like To Call It Beauty. Upon mentioning this, she instantly clams up. Clenching her fists to fight back the tears, she looks away and gives a slightly muddled answer, so I change the subject. She breathes a sigh of relief and smiles.
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And while we don’t let her dwell on her heartache, she says she finds comfort in having her band around her (some of whom she’s known since childhood) and adds she realises the importance of ‘living in the moment’. ‘I’m trying to be here, present, enjoying this time in my life right now. I don’t want to be someone who can’t wait to tweet or blog about a moment. Live in the moment. The Facebook thing is about showing off. I really dislike that. It’s attention seeking. Sometimes
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I hang around a venue at the end of a gig for hours. If people say, “I like this song”, I’d much rather have a normal conversation.’
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And she’s not just saying this, she really is the least ‘starry’ star you’ll ever meet. Not interested in showbiz airs and graces, it’s noted how she introduced herself to the crew on our shoot with a firm handshake as opposed to flimsy air-kisses. It’s easy to forget this is a woman who’s won a shed-load of industry awards, as well as selling over four million albums worldwide. But she plays down these successes. ‘When I was at the Grammy nominations ceremony [in 2006], it didn’t cross my mind that I’d been asked to go because I’d been nominated, because it’s the biggest music award in the world,’ she recalls. ‘Justin Timberlake and Mary J Blige were on stage reading stuff out and I was thinking, “Why am I here?” Then Justin read out Song Of The Year and said, “Corinne Bailey Rae”, and I went “What?!” And then someone else read Record Of The Year and it was me again. It was crazy.’
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Another career highlight was being asked to play at an exclusive gig honouring Paul McCartney at the White House. ‘It was mind-blowing to me,’ she says, remembering the night where she sang Black Bird with jazz legend Herbie Hancock. ‘The day before the gig, we watched Stevie Wonder and his band trying to get We Can Work It Out right. It’s one of my favourite songs, so there was me dancing in the room, only the kitchen staff watching, thinking this is amazing. Later, we did our set in front of the politicians and Barack Obama, Michelle, the kids and Paul McCartney. I wanted to get back upstairs to watch it, but couldn’t. You can’t just wander round the corridors, it’s the White House!’
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Fortunately, she was called back on stage for an ensemble effort of Hey Jude at the end. ‘They told us all to come and do the “na, na, na na nas”,’ she says reminiscing. ‘There was Paul McCartney and Jack White, and Dave Grohl – who was getting everyone on stage. I was hiding behind Elvis Costello going, “You go on!” And then, as we were all singing and dancing away, this tall figure appeared on stage and it was Barack, singing “Na, na, na na, hey Jude”. It was so silly. You couldn’t have made it up. You couldn’t have dreamed it up. It was a once-in-a-lifetime moment.’
We can’t help wondering if even Corinne was tempted to ‘tweet’ about that one.
FROM TRAMP TO VAMP
‘I do more TV in America than I do in the UK, so people recognise me more over there. Here I’m less well known, and it suits me fine. I’ll often go into town in my PJs, with my hair scraped back and no make-up. I’m quite scruffy in every day life. I love fashion, but I also like being a completely dishevelled tramp, because I like the contrast.’
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DID YOU KNOW?
Corinne’s sister is actress Rhea Bailey, who played Yasmin Deardon in Waterloo Road and PC Mel Ryder in The Bill.
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GIRL, PUT YOUR RECORDS ON!
We asked Corinne for a playlist of songs that reflect the happy times in her life
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1. Rosemary Lenny Kravitz
‘One of the first songs I learnt to play on my guitar.’
2. I Got Life Nina Simone
‘Nina Simone has written lots of songs that make me feel empowered, and this one, from the musical Hair, is really inspirational and uplifting.’
3. Respectable Mel & Kim
‘Respectable reminds me of my sister Candice. She had a yellow beret and I had a blue one like Mel & Kim.’
4. Vogue Madonna
‘I could do all the moves when I was little, I’m not sure I could now! We used to make up dances to loads of songs like The Love I Lost by Sybil.’
5. Let’s Talk About Sex Salt-N-Pepa
‘The first single I ever bought. I still know all the words to it even now.’
6. All Night Long Lionel Richie
‘It’s so cheesy, but so much fun. We used to listen to it on the tour bus.’
7. Heart of Glass Blondie
‘This was number one in the charts when I was born and it’s still as amazing now.’
8. What’ll I Do Janet Jackson
‘I was listening to Janet’s album – the one with the hand bra when I was about 15. It reminds me of having my first boyfriend.’
9. Smells Like Teen Spirit Nirvana
‘The most commercial of the Nirvana songs. I remember pretending that it wasn’t the one that got me hooked after Kurt Cobain died. It was.’
10. Crazy In Love Beyoncé
‘I’ll always get up and dance to this, even if no one else does. It’s a total party song.’
Corinne’s single Closer is out 2 August, her album The Sea is out now. Corinne stayed at Cotton Bay Village in St Lucia. See p3 for details
