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It is morning in America when Chrystabell greets me over Zoom and despite the early hour there, she welcomes me with a glorious warm and glowing smile. My day has been a long one and this is a welcome sight after hours in front of a screen. But there is some sadness to the call too as hours before the singer and I speak, she has been told her world tour plans are in shreds because of the pandemic. I had questions planned about her shows across the UK and they are now binned for a fascinating chat about her music, videos and working on the Twin Peaks update with legendary director David Lynch.

Chrystabell has released four acclaimed albums and featured in a series of musical projects with Lynch. Having launched her career in the late-1990s with the neo-swing band 8 1/2 Souvenirs, she first joined forces with Lynch for a song featured in his 2006 film Inland Empire and has worked on more music projects with him since, as well as being a central character in Twin Peaks. Acting though has been a side-step, music is her passion. Latest single Midnight Star is a glorious slice of space age electro-pop with a wonderful video.

She tells me the visuals are critical to her art; “It's imperative. Having worked with wonderful directors, one in particular over the top wonderful director, I always had that sense of wanting a full experience with music. That really started with musicals in my very young years. I really love just giving that full experience, all the elements involved. “

Chrystabell is from San Antonio, Texas and speaks with a lush deep south American accent where every has feeling. She is intense but funny, relaxing into our conversation and admitting that this world of video interviews has become a comfortable norm. She is someone obviously at ease in front of a camera, even when speaking to tired journalists. In her latest music videos there is that space-age, futuristic glamour as well as a sense of having fun and no limits. The video for Midnight Star was written and directed by Polish filmmaker and long-time collaborator, Archon. Chrystabell says she likes to explore the combination of visual and music:

“Most of that though was guided on intuition with directors. I want to collaborate and follow my intuition, an inner guidance. If I get with a director that I've got a good feel, something sparkles, I get that cosmic yes going! Once that's happening, I say yes and that's the first threshold. I gotta feel it but at that point I really allow the director to have creative control and go wild and to experiment.”

As a singer, actor, and model, Chrystabell has many talents and this willingness to try different things with her videos and, perhaps, push the boundaries, has come from a varied career:

“I've always loved photography and modelling, where I was going out with photographers in strange locations and doing things differently. To conjure a feeling that from the art something different was happening. So, with the visuals it's feeling that confidence with the director and then letting he or she just go wild. I love to collaborate and I'm just I'm in it to win. There is a part of me that wants to be glamorous and beautiful, but that's not what I want to be boxed into. There's this part of you that says you have to really push yourself out of that and say yes to these things happening. When everyone is just allowing that collective energy to really be in full force and not feel like oh God you know what if Chrystabell and will she like this, let's just go with it and I'll figure it out!”

The plan was for Chrystabell to play shows in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Brighton, and London in February. The cancellation came days after she had returned from playing a live show in Europe. Given the change of her schedule she is even more grateful for having the experience to take part in celebrations of Serbia's second-largest city Novi Sad being elected as one of the three European capitals of Culture for 2022. She is delighted and thankful to have had that experience:

“We performed in this outrageously beautiful centuries old gothic church and the priest had to sign off on the performance and say that it was okay. We were the first band playing electrified music and it was spectacular. Now of course it is even more special. Everything about the trip was a triumph and I'm so glad that we had that experience. Over the last couple of years some of the magic things that have happen against all loads are just really special. That doesn't mean that when we get back to doing gigs and doing all the things that we used to maybe take a little bit for granted, but it just makes those moments even more special.”

She says the pandemic has focused the mindset to enjoy whatever is happening as much as you can:

“I'm definitely more trained now on appreciating every moment for whatever it is and maximising things. We don't know what's gonna happen. It is a choice you can make in every moment for your perspective, which way you're gonna lean and what you're going to lean into. It can be a daily discovery. I find the most personal fulfilment in seeing the richness of my experiences. That's the measurement for me, how much I'm getting in the moment from that experience. Because of the nature of my career and the span of it, I've had a wide range of experiences and so you can get the kind of glitzy super glamorous moments and those that can fall flat. If you don't make the effort to make them amazing and special and wonderful it's really a choice that you make.”

Chrystabell admits that in some places around the world audiences before the pandemic were not always as enthusiastic as they were for this gig in Serbia. She is not the first singer, and certainly won’t be the last, to find London shows slightly more restrained. She says in capitals like London and Paris, audiences have so much choice that perhaps there’s more appreciation in the likes of Kosovo or even Moscow. The fact the tour has been delayed means she will spend some time rethinking the shows and considering how those extraordinary visuals from the videos can be incorporated. Expect those gigs to be even more glorious as a result. The delay may benefit us all.

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Young Talent RAA Trey Drops “Song of Da Year”

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While most high school students are figuring out homework and what to do with their free time, one rising hip-hop and rap artist out of Mississippi is busy making music on his terms. At 17, RAA Trey (born Alvin Peyton III) is showing up for his future self in a big way with the recent release of the new single, “Song of Da Year,” earlier in November. The track provides a preview of what to expect on his upcoming album 1OF1, featuring 14 songs that will drop this December.

RAA Trey, whose name is an acronym for “Respect Above All,” learned early on growing up in a family of entrepreneurs about putting in the work to make your vision a reality. He was only in seventh grade when he started his label, Take Money Records and Entertainment, which he still runs today, and began building a home studio to pursue his dream. The same drive and confidence remain, carrying over to his new work. 

“Song of Da Year gives off a championship feel to it,” says RAA Trey. “I’m just letting everybody know to respect me as soon as I come in this game because when I’m coming, this is going to be over the top. That’s why it’s called Song of Da Year. Respect this.” Aware that his home state may not have a music scene such as other parts of the south like Memphis or Atlanta, RAA Trey shares he follows his own sound and whatever he feels at the moment.

Mixed and mastered by Shane Thomson with lyrics by RAA Trey, who writes all of his music, “Song of Da Year” features powerful lyrics of assurance with one particular part paying tribute to his mother: my momma worry / I told my momma she ain't gotta worry / evea' since I was young, you been nervous / I promise I'm gon' make it with these verses.”

As for performing, RAA Trey is a natural performer, gracing several stages, including a show to thousands featuring rapper a well known rapper from Louisiana, among other events over the years. Fans can expect to see him even more in the months ahead, as he plans to tour, expand his fan base and launch merchandise.

With “Song of Da Year,” RAA Trey, is manifesting, making his mark—and he hasn’t even graduate yet. Those who want to learn more and listen to his latest music can follow him on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.

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