The 20-year-old newcomer Raven Numan today shares a beguiling statement-of-intent as she shares her debut single ‘My Reflection’.
‘My Reflection’ achieves a haunting melancholia that blurs the boundaries between the modern dark-pop scene and the dark intensity of classic ’80s goth and industrial – all while exploring contemporary conversational issues that affect young women all over the world. Her voice is both sultry and elegant, yet with an emotionally detached air that complements the song’s take on the horrors of body dysmorphia. It’s the result of her ongoing creative collaboration with Ade Fenton.
Raven says, “‘My Reflection’ is about the unrealistic beauty standards that have been pushed on us since adolescence. We’ve been fed lies about beauty from a young age through countless mediums: lingerie models, makeup commercials, even cartoons employ beauty standards. They try to tell you that these products, this makeup, or our underwear will make you look and feel amazing but that’s not the case. They feed your insecurities and then try to sell you something to make it all better. It breeds self-hatred and insecurity, and both myself and the overwhelming majority of women I know suffer from the unrealistic beauty standards of today.”
Raven casts an enigmatic spell in the accompanying video. Her performance is brooding, witchy and unsettlingly captivating – a concoction that immediately establishes her as a rising alternative figurehead. The shattered mirror, meanwhile, provides an engaging visual motif for the song’s heavyweight themes,
Such black-hearted music runs in Raven’s blood – her father is synth-pop pioneer Gary Numan, who she supported during his three night run at London’s Electric Ballroom last year. Yet while he provides an inspiring figure in Raven’s life, she’s very much her own artist. Empowered pop figures such as Beyoncé, Ariana Grande and Katy Perry first sparked her interest in making music, while her style has been further informed by artists able to wield complicated emotions and twisted romance with beauty and intensity, notably Nine Inch Nails, Mazzy Star, Lana Del Rey and Deftones.
Essentially Raven Numan’s music provides a voice for those on the fringes of society – perhaps they’re outsiders, or they’re struggling with mental health issues, or they’re unfairly demonised by the media and the talking points of the day. They are not alone.
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