Wonder what happened to Corinne Bailey Rae. Well,
here you go: The U.K. singer/songwriter just finished a highly abbreviated set at the 150-capacity Joe's Pub -- one of two New York gigs in early December, and her first live dates here since 2007 -- and the standing-room-only crowd that eagerly awaited her arrival is now protesting her early exit.
"One more song!" a few rowdy fans yell. Rae, clad in a lavender metallic jumpsuit that slinks over her petite frame and simple, black flats, is apologetic. It's not her call, she explains; another band is about to go onstage. Finally, folks reluctantly start to file out of the venue, still absorbing what they heard.
The performance was almost exclusively of new music from "The Sea," Rae's sophomore album, which is due Jan. 26 in the United States on Capitol Records and Feb. 1 in the United Kingdom on Virgin, and which also strays heavily from her debut. "I really didn't want to make the same record twice," Rae says of "The Sea," which, unlike the rather uncomplicated acoustic-pop-leaning sound of her debut, has more lush production and bleaker lyrics. "Even the label didn't want me to make the same record twice. I felt like I had developed a lot from the first one in terms of how I wanted it to sound."
You'll actually enjoy that interview from a usually enjoyable person that music has missed.
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