FEATURE: Spotlight: Revisited: Rianne Downey

FEATURE:

Spotlight: Revisited

Rianne Downey

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ONE of my favourite artists around…

I wanted to revisit the music of the brilliant Rianne Downey. I spotlighted Downey almost two years ago now, and she has done so much since then. I shall come to her new album, The Consequence of Love. It is her debut, and it has received huge acclaim. Another challenger for album of the year, Downey has also performed with Paul Heaton and she has played some big festivals. A remarkable artist who everyone needs to know about, I am going to end with a glowing review for The Consequence of Love. I will bring in some recent interviews first. Currently on tour, I would advise people to check out where she is playing and get a ticket if you can, as Rianne Downey is a sensational live performer. There are some great album bundles, so go and check them out. As Rianne Downey notes in recent interviews, as someone from Glasgow, it is quite rare to hear a Scottish Country artist. However, as Country has Celtic roots, it is not that unusual. In modern music, most Country artists are from the U.S. We have a fair few in England. However, there is something distinct and powerful about Downey’s sound. Different from American Country. Better and more effecting in my view. I want to come to some recent interviews with Rianne Downey. The Rodeo Mag spoke with Downey about bringing Country back to its Celtic roots:

“Rianne Downey’s debut album The Consequence of Love has been a long time coming. Blending contemporary folk and country with Scottish traditional folk, it’s also highly anticipated – when we chatted a few weeks ago, her tour was already nearly sold out. Recorded last year in May at Bear Creek Studios near Seattle (yes, there was a creek and bears nearby), Rianne has since been busy working and performing with Paul Heaton, wanting to give him all her time and energy before giving all of hers to her own work and for it to be the right time. Although, she did learn that with art, there isn’t ever a right time. “It’s so precious to you, isn’t it? So, you feel like the longer you hold onto it it’s safe, but it comes to a head doesn’t it. You need to show the world so you can move onto the next thing.”

While there might never be the right time in the eyes and ears of the artists to release their work into the wild, seasonally speaking The Consequence of Love has been released at the right time for the listener. There is something very autumnal about this album, it evokes the soft light in the mornings, the changing of the season, the warmth of the sun and chill in the air. Rianne was very pleased to hear that I had picked up on this, especially on the song ‘Sunblind.’ “I actually had sort of autumn mornings in my head, I’m quite an autumnal person so when I was writing, that’s a lot of the things I could see, like the sun setting dead low,” she says with a huge grin.

Alongside Johnny Cash, Fleetwood Mac are amongst Rianne’s biggest influences. “When you’re young and a teenager and so caught up in the thing of finding yourself, I think they definitely helped me along that path,” Rianne says on the impact Fleetwood Mac has had on her. “Learning about them and the chaos of their lives gave me peace in a way as well.” She cites Stevie Nicks as a particular inspiration in terms of music, fashion and life. “It was Stevie Nicks who introduced me to feminism as well, which I love, so she’s definitely helped me in a lot of ways.”

Other influences include Simon and Garfunkel and, in her songwriting, Townes Van Zandt (“I really do love that sort of really classic, fingerpicking, old country style”), as well as her contemporaries Noah Kahan and Phoebe Bridgers. Not only has the sounds and productions of Noah Kahan played a big role in recent inspirations, but also his huge successes, as it’s made Rianne feel more confident that there is an audience for her.

Rianne shares that this was a big worry for her in 2021 when she released her first EP and there wasn’t quite the resurgence of country and folk as there is now. “I sort of felt like, oh God what if people don’t like country, then that means they don’t like me, and I don’t want to make a gimmick of myself.” Though this fear led her to stray away from country and folk as she experimented with indie and pop, she kept returning to her roots and the music she deep down always wanted to make. “It felt really freeing and refreshing to just decide I’m doing this for me and I’m writing what I want to write.”

Rianne has unfortunately faced some negative comments. “It is quite an unorthodox thing, a Scottish country singer, so I have had trolls online saying like, ‘ugh she’s just another country singer,’ ‘she’s just another karaoke singer,’ ‘you can’t even tell she’s Scottish, why she putting on an accent?’” Anyone who’s referencing Townes Van Zandt is far from a karaoke singer… Luckily, Rianne has a strong sense of self and tries to see the positive in that if she’s getting hate online it means her presence and reach is growing. She’s also not too worried about the “miserable people,” because she’s being true to herself, or to use the country buzzword, she’s authentic. “If I was trying to do something else, then I’d never really know if I was doing it right or wrong, whereas when I’m being me, I don’t really think I can do that wrong.”

It’s also important to remember that a lot of elements in country music come from Celtic folk music. For example, when Dolly Parton sings old bluegrass songs or harmonises with her sisters, you can hear in her voice, the way in which she delivers the notes and stories, her Celtic ancestry. “I guess maybe that is why it feels so natural to me,” smiles Rianne. “I think it is that sort of raw storytelling thing that definitely feels like that’s my sort of Celtic roots.” And so, Rianne being inspired by American mountain music but singing it in her own Scottish accent is like the bringing together of country and folk’s past, present and future”.

Beginning busking in Glasgow aged fifteen, and having been asked to support Paul Heaton after she uploaded a cover of The Beautiful South’s Rotterdam (Or Anywhere) to YouTube, Rianne Downey has also supported Paolo Nutini and Deacon Blue. The Skinny spoke with Downey back in September. There is understandably a lot of focus on this amazing Country artist. Someone who is going to rank alongside the legends of the genre in years to come:

“Some of music's biggest stars like Ed Sheeran, Rod Stewart, Gerry Cinnamon and Dylan John Thomas started their careers as buskers. When did you start singing and was busking always something you wanted to do?

I always loved to sing and would get my mum to print out lyrics to my favourite songs like Johnny Cash’s Ring of Fire or June Carter and Carl Smith’s Time’s A Wastin’. I’d do performances in front of her and my grannies. Then when I was ten I asked for my first guitar after I got hooked on Amy Winehouse’s Back to Black. But I didn’t think I was cool enough to be a singer-songwriter. I loved performing, and musical theatre seemed like the way for me at first. I got a scholarship to the Royal Conservatoire when I was at school.

I would hang about with people in the busking scene in Glasgow. One of my old pals would encourage me to give it a go but I was so nervous. Then one day when I was 15 I just got up and did a song and got the busking bug. It was very daunting. One guy told me to go and shoot myself in the head. You’d get wolf whistles. As you grow up you look back and think about the condescending men who would come over after your set. At the time you think they were being nice and giving you advice, even though they’ve not sung a note in their life. But busking builds a thick skin and taught me how to win people over. Now though, most of the trolling is online.

The title track of The Consequence of Love is about your Granny Cathy, who has dementia. Why did you decide to write a song about that and has she heard it?

My Granny and the family had been dealing with her decline for a while but it didn’t really hit me until I was leaving the UK to record my debut album in Seattle. She had started to deteriorate really quickly. It was her last days in her own house and she was going into a home and you could just really see she wasn’t the woman that I knew anymore, there was this glaze over her eyes. Even though I’d known my Gran had dementia for years I think I was in denial. I then wrote the song which is about how nothing prepares you to lose the one you love. You can know all the facts, prepare yourself and know it’s coming because it’s part of life, but when you actually see that person deteriorating it’s a pain like no other.

I was in so much pain, but I wouldn’t change anything, because I got to have the life with my Gran and saw the woman she was; I have all these memories. [Writing the song] was my way of dealing with grief. I haven’t played her the song yet but I’ve written some of the lyrics in a notebook she has for the family to write messages to her. She cries a lot now and I don’t want to upset her. But I did write down some of the lyrics including: ‘I would walk a million miles in your shoes to take the load off / And I’d save all my pennies to buy back the time that we used up’, so she has seen it in some way.

As someone who loved country music from a young age why did you choose Seattle rather than Nashville to record your debut album?

The chance to work with the producer Ryan Hadlock who has worked with Brandi Carlile and Zach Bryan [...] I looked into loads of producers, compiled a playlist of all my favourite songs and my favourite genres growing up until now and what is as close to my sound now and the common denominator was Ryan. I plucked up the courage to ask my label to send me over there and I was lucky they wanted to take a chance on me. His studio Bear Creek is in the forest. It’s called Bear Creek because it’s by a creek and in a forest that has black bears. I heard one while I was in the hot tub. I was terrified. I felt very vulnerable at that point [...] As for Nashville, I’d love to play the Grand Ole Opry. That’s my main goal. After I play the Barras”.

The final interview I am coming to is from Rolling Stone. Speaking with them last month, they declared Rianne Downey as Scotland’s boldest voice in Country music. Someone many might associate more with her work with Paul Heaton, we need to shine a light on her incredible solo music and The Consequence of Love. One of the strongest debut albums of this year. If you have not heard it then go and check it out:

“We’re speaking weeks before the album drops. Excited?

I’m dead excited but I’m nervous as well. It’s that feeling of when you were younger and it was Christmas Eve and you’re buzzing for Santa to come. It’s how I feel now, giddy but nervous because you never really know what’s going to happen. It’s a really special time.

What does the record say about you as an artist?

I think encapsulates me and my journey. The album is rooted in country and folk, but has these sort of classic Celtic touches which feel unorthodox. It’s quite a unique and quirky and almost wonky album in a way and there is a sort of beauty to the wonkiness and I think that sort of really encapsulates me and my journey, as a person and as a musician, I’ve had quite quite a unique journey.

And you got the proper country experience recording in the US, right?

Yeah I recorded with my producer Ryan Hadlock at a studio in Seattle called Bear Creek and it has that name because, well, there’s bears and there’s a creek surrounding it. It was amazing, I didn’t see a black bear but I did hear one at night one time when I was out in the garden and I was terrified.

It made the full thing feel like dead enchanted. I felt so at one with myself and it was a nice way to shut out the world. Being in that setting where you’re just in the trees, in a barn in the middle of nowhere, it’s just completely about the music and myself really.

Ryan was amazing for production as well. There’s a song on there called ‘Lost in Blue’ which was maybe more acoustic and he turned that into this dreamy Fleetwood Mac style song. What was lovely too is that he could sense what I needed without me having to articulate it and I think that’s the beautiful thing about having the right producer. If you can just feel what each other are thinking then it’s the perfect match.

We know you’ve performed with Paul Heaton at a string of his gigs. What’s he taught you about music?

It’s strange because I’m sort of learning as I’m watching and listening to him, so it’s never like we sat down and he’s said ‘this is what you need to do’. I’ve just learned in the most natural way possible and almost like in a very simple way because that’s who Paul is.

There’s no airs or graces and he’s very down to earth and, he does things in his own way. I think just being around him and watching him be such a lovely person and a good soul and the way that he treats people really brushed off. He knows it’s all about the music and the importance that it doesn’t get compromised, but it’s nice to just see someone doing that while being such a kind person, a gem of a person, but still having that strong will. It definitely helped with my album and allowed me to realise that this is about me and what I do. Everyone’s listening to the album because of me, everyone’s coming to the gigs because of me, so you have to sort of stay true to that”.

Whilst you would have hoped a lot of the bigger music websites – such as NME, The Guardian, The Line of Best Fit, The Forty-Five etc. – would have reviewed The Consequence of Love, there are some really positive ones from those who have sat down and reviewed Rianne Downey’s debut album. This is what HIVE said in their review. It is clear that The Consequences of Love came with so much anticipation and expectation. It has more than lived up to expectations! One of this year’s best albums without doubt:

“I can’t think of the last time a debut album had expectations quite like this. Despite this being Rianne Downey’s first album she’s already a household name from her partnership with the legendary Paul Heaton and the multiple tours and festivals she’s done by his side. She’s a name many are familiar with however to the many who may have seen her at Heaton’s side this album may come as a surprise.

Downey made her name through her beautiful country music and her sound is influenced by legends like Dolly Parton just as much as it influenced by the sounds and stories of Scotland. It’s a very distinct take on country and adds a layer of sincerity you won't find elsewhere. Country music is a genre I’ve historically been very critical of, especially modern American country, as I typically tend to find the genre formulaic and insincere but when country artists buck these trends and wear their heart on their sleeves in a manner such as Rianne Downey does here I have to swallow nearly every word I’ve said to disparage the state of the genre as I’m reminded there are still incredible artists out there.

The opening track ‘Good In Goodbye’ is a mesmerising piece of music. Propped up by mandolin and banjo to create this warm, familiar and joyous feeling as we hear Rianne sing a song of love and loss but a song that’s ultimately about acceptance. It’s a song that wrestles with the joy that can come from grief. Releasing yourself from what once was and accepting that sometimes loss is the only way to move forward is a hard reality to grapple with but it’s one we all have to face at one point or another and as this record opens we hear Rianne doing just that. In this case it seems to be a reflection on a past relationship, something that came around at the wrong time and that whilst it was great it was never meant to be. It’s an incredibly evocative song, especially lyrically with such vivid imagery painted by her lyrics. As she sings “We were like the trees, how they can chain and intertwine, but when our branches came to meet the forest set on fire,” we hear this song at its core. Loss and grief and recovery aren’t linear, sometimes something you really want to happen you have to let go but finding the ‘Good In Goodbye’ can bring you more happiness than it ever would have originally.

The album’s second track and in my opinion the best offering on the whole album, ‘The Song Of Old Glencoe’ is a love letter to Scotland and a track that ditches the influence of the sounds of American country music that tint the record throughout. Feeling closer to folk it’s a soft, contemplative and tender effort as she sings a love song to the land. From its stripped back, more grounded feel to the vocalisation of “too-loor-a-lie-o” on the chorus this feels like a definitive track that will be a staple for years to come. It’s so unapologetically Scottish in its misty sounds and it is a beautiful track.

An ever-present theme with the lyrics of this album is duality. The push and pull of love and loss. The harmony they create as they exist with and against each other. You can’t lose without love and this is something Downey explores deeply throughout. Even the title of the album The Consequence Of Love hints towards this and the title track also, unsurprisingly, explores this concept. That song is a beautiful ballad, one that made a huge impact from the first time I heard her sing the chorus “Nobody prepares you to lose the one that you love, Nobody warned you how much losing feels like a loss, And it comes to all of us, A consequence of love.”

Another standout track arrives towards the end of the album in ‘Sunblind’ as we hear Downey seemingly questioning if the feelings that come with the honeymoon phase of a relationship can continue to last. Is this something real or is it a flash in the pan? Is she sabotaging herself to preserve her happiness and ultimately holding herself back from something? This song poses so many interesting questions against the backing of this summery, playful tune that feels like something out of the book of Dolly Parton B-Sides (and I mean that as the biggest compliment I can muster)

As far as debut albums go it’s one of the most driven, confident and incredible debuts I’ve heard in a while. Rianne Downey is marked for big things, she was before the release of this album, but this has cemented her as someone we cannot ignore anymore. An incredible album from your next favourite singer”.

An exceptional artist who everyone needs to know about, Glasgow’s Country queen, Rianne Downey, has put out one of 2025’s finest albums. Downey also appeared on Paul Heaton’s superb 2024 album, The Mighty Several. And you feel like she will feature on his next album. She is touring at the moment, but I think next year will be her biggest. If you have not heard this stunning artist then make sure that you follow her and hear The Consequence of Love. A singular musician with…