Mehalah Ray is the pseudonym of twenty-two-year-old songwriter and musician Rachel Clark, based in Cambridge. A performer in and around her hometown from the age of fourteen, with several releases under her belt, Ray’s new single Nevermind is a beautifully-realised song that captures the universal feeling of having to let go of something/someone in order to thrive in the long run. A quick Google search will tell you that the Hebrew origin of the name Mehalah is tenderness and barren. Listening to Nevermind, this certainly feels apt – as the music very much feels like a creative rebirth. Just to be clear though; I’m taking about barren as a return to nothingness… a restoration of factory settings, if you will.

“I had a very confusing year where I was over working myself and trying to stay present at all times when actually it was extremely self-destructive. I had to make the decision to let things go and disconnect in order to move forward more healthily. Nevermind is basically a track that embodies a big sigh of relief after doing the hard work of setting yourself free.”

Mehalah Ray on Nevermind

The track is gorgeous. Gentle brushed drums, warm acoustic guitar, washes of electric guitar, and some wonderful woodwind work together to create something truly transcendental. The production is superb, with a lovely feel and a hazy vibe that draws you in. Given that the song was recorded at long distance, between two bedrooms – one in Leeds and one in Cambridge – makes it all the more impressive too. There’s real depth here, and some beautiful chord changes that somehow seem to say as much as the lyrics.

The dynamics and flow of the song are great, with Ray’s candid, enchanting voice guiding you through as the backing sways and swells. I love the laid-back, conversational style of her lyrics too, such as the opening “Eyes are in focus, come on now let’s do this / Arms are unfolded, nobody will notice them / Shy away / Walk away / Feel okay / What happened here? You’re never like this“. With repeated listens you can really appreciate the amount of work that has gone in to making something that sounds so nonchalant and off-the-cuff. The way those woodwind instruments dance around eachother and frame the vocal melody, the layers of subtle shimmering electric guitar, and the strings that push the song into its final chorus. Not that I’ve found myself repeatedly listening in search of these things – it’s just so easy to do it when the music sounds this good.

I hadn’t heard of Mehalah Ray (or Rachel Clark) before I heard Nevermind, but I have an inkling this won’t be the last track of hers that finds its way onto here. Sometimes you wonder why you write about new music when there seems to be so much rubbish floating to the top, and it’s genuinely disheartening to see, but then you find someone like Mehalah Ray and it all makes sense again. There’s so much talent out there, in every corner of the world – my last few posts have seen artists from places as diverse as Queensland, Los Angeles, Birmingham, Toronto, Turku, New York, Copenhagen, Jakarta, and Tokyo to name a few. I guess what I’m saying is I’d better add Cambridge to the list. Amazing work. Looking forward to more.

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You can find Mehalah Ray on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.