Rachel Chinouriri is targeting festival headline slots and a US breakthrough as she prepares to release her new album, I Think I Spoke Too Soon.
The Music Week cover star drops her second studio LP on October 16 via Parlophone/Atlas Artists.
She previews the release in our September edition, as we sit down with the singer alongside her longtime manager Duncan Ellis at Atlas Artists and Warner/Parlophone execs Aaron Bay-Schuck, Joe Kentish and Jen Ivory.
Chinouriri said the global rise of British talent – Olivia Dean, Raye and Lola Young among them – has helped pave the way for others.
“Them being at the top opens a path for everyone,” she said. “It’s almost like a ship going, and everyone can go behind it. It’s opened doors for British music. Before, you’d really try to break America; now, because of virality, it’s easier. There’s a place for all of us."
She’s incredibly ambitious, and we don’t limit that ambition
Duncan Ellis, Atlas Artists
For Ellis, who has worked with the artist since her BRIT School days, that changing landscape has only heightened the stakes for Chinouriri.
“She’s incredibly ambitious, and we don’t limit that ambition,” he said. “She wants to headline festivals, break America. It’s not for the faint-hearted. You need brilliant music, brilliant art, and then everything else too, if you’re serious about being number one. But I think she can do it. Otherwise, I don’t know what the point would be.”
Ellis noted that the US has always been Chinouriri's number one market.
"The social and streaming numbers were always North America-leaning. So the opportunity for her right now is really exciting for us,” he said.
Chinouriri has 3.5 million monthly listeners on Spotify, while her 2024 debut album What A Devastating Turn Of Events peaked at No.17 in the UK and has current sales of 25,100, according to the Official Charts Company. Her best seller to date is 2022 single All I Ever Asked (323,280 sales).
Getting those co-signs motivated me because I knew what I was making, what was coming, and the timing just felt right
Rachel Chinouriri
The London-born singer's global ambitions come alongside a new record that the 27-year-old sees as a significant creative step forward, marking a shift from indie and alt-indie pop towards what she calls “alt-pop”. The album draws on influences including Madonna, Kylie Minogue, LCD Soundsystem, MGMT, Donna Summer and Prince.
“On my first album, I was trying to make myself a pop star in the industry,” she said. “There was a lot of conversation about being Black and pop, about Black pop stars in general. I deliberately wanted to make my identity clear and see if I had a space. I’ve done that, and now it’s time to have fun as an artist. Even though I can speak about my traumas, I don’t want to wallow in them, so this record lets a bit of that go.”
That creative evolution has attracted high-profile backing from artists including Olivia Rodrigo and Gracie Abrams, while Chinouriri also joined Sabrina Carpenter’s tour.
“I really respect Olivia Rodrigo’s artistry,” she said. “I keep watching her show up with each album and just be able to evolve. It’s the same with Gracie; seeing the levels of success they’ve had, the fanbases they’ve built, inspires me to want that relationship with my own fans. Getting those co-signs motivated me because I knew what I was making, what was coming, and the timing just felt right. This is maybe what I needed.”
For Chinouriri, those co-signs are an indication that she could be moving up a level.
“I think it signifies the potential for that,” she said. “It shows a degree of belief that an artist at that level believes you’re good enough, that their fanbase will support you. It’s a hint of something that could be so much bigger than you, and you start to think, ‘Maybe one day I can do that.’”
The recognition came as no surprise to Ellis.
“It’s all through Rachel’s hard work and endeavour, through really earning her stripes, her great music and a really wonderful work ethic,” he said. “I think you need great music, a point of difference, an individual voice, a connection to culture and to your audience – more than ever – and you need to work bloody hard. Rachel possesses all of those things. She’s done it in the right way.”
Subscribers can read the full interview with Chinouriri and her team here.
