Real Wealth by Ali Angel & Rae Isla
This is going to be the duet of the summer. Period. Angisla is the new thing.
I had to do quite some writing to get ready for this song. Catch up below. We'll wait.
PAUL DETTMANN
There are only two people more excited about this duet than me, and they're in it. Since Rae Isla moved to Los Angeles I feel like both of their careers have been on turbo boost. It was the most unexpected and most natural thing for them to record together, and I'm hoping this song is just the first of many.
Oh we’re fighting again
About the same old thing
It’s a crying shame
But I'll take the blame
The most literal hearing of these lyrics might suggest a narrow interpretation of love. The duo have been talking about this as a queer anthem, a celebration of gay love, and all of that is true. But I had to ask: isn't it really about all kinds of love?
ALI: The initial intention was to write a song about romantic love but the way it evolved, it became something where it can apply to any relationship that's loving like friendship, romantic, platonic, familial, all of it. But I think with specific lyrics, we were kind of drawing from our own past relationships and the dynamics of being with a person that brings you back to your best self and helps you to regulate yourself and remind yourself of your own worth and how that's more valuable than any tangible idea of wealth.
RAE: That's where a song like Real Wealth for me is like a medicine or a tincture because I think the hardest thing about self-starting everything and self-financing your dreams is that you can lose yourself and you can reach a point of desperation. It's the relationships in your life, the good relationships that feel warm, that can regulate you to keep going. I think that's what I was channeling in the song.
ALI: I think as artists we need a lot of validation, but I was thinking about the root of what that really means in terms of applause or numbers or, you know, whether it's a playlist or selling out a venue or having fans and all of that stuff. The validation... it all kind of roots down to connection at the end of the day, the desire to connect and be relational with other people.
I was aware that both Ali and Rae had played at the same SoCal Sound all-female showcase a few weeks before we spoke. What I didn't realise is that they were invited separately and SoCal Sound did not know they knew each other and did not know about the duet. Rae explained that the duet dynamic is quite different to working more in isolation.
RAE: I think it is an amalgamation. I've been hesitant to even label it as like, oh, it's this, because I think what sticks out to me most is the way that our voices work together. They blend really well when they need to, but they also cut through like the way her voice is so Ali and I feel like my voice is so me.
You pick me up when I’m feeling down
I miss your touch when you’re not around
Oh in sickness or in health
We found love’s the real wealth
The timing of this song is part of their joint and separate narratives. Ali is still promoting her debut album, which I reviewed earlier this year.
Paul Dettmann
Meanwhile Rae is preparing for the release of her next album, which even I do not know the title of. Or the release date for, but it will very likely be this year. So for both artists, Real Wealth acts as a bookend, a pause.
I reminded Rae of a point she made on tour: that although the musician lifestyle might appear precarious, from her perspective the 'safe' office job is looking less stable all the time. She completely, and very rationally, deconstructed the narrative we were all given from birth, that the way to happiness is to work really hard at a boring job and then retire as early as you can.
RAE: That idea sounds very unsensible to me. And not because I'm wild! I think what's sensible is depth and autonomy. To think that you put the things you actually value which are your passions, your adventure... to put that off until the end of your life makes absolutely no sense. Real Wealth is about the pursuit of what's really valuable in life despite the timelines we're supposed to follow.
And that is why I love Rae Isla. She is one of the most steady, grounded people I have spoken to in the last year. A quick chat with her makes it sound like the musical life is sensible and authentic and not at all risky. She makes me think I can follow the path too. If she can, if I can... then surely you can.
Our conversation moved on to the difference between writing as a solo artist, which Rae and Ali do most of the time, and writing as a duo.
ALI: It's interesting when two artists write together it's like there are a million choices you could make that take you in different directions in a song. When you're writing with somebody else you could be steering one way and then they're like "well, what if we did this" and then suddenly the song becomes something it would never have been if you were writing alone. I think that's probably what you're hearing in the song, too, is just like the twists and turns of like... I navigated the song this way for a bit. And then this choice Rae brought, and back and forth. And so it becomes this kind of combo of our styles because, just like the way our brains work, we have different ideas.
All artists are independent up to a point. If it's your name on the cover, you have to answer for it, even if you're signed to a major label. But when you're really independent, the stakes are even higher. One of the aims of a duet must surely be to unite your audiences, to share ears, and hopefully reach new fans.
Ali and Rae have achieved that and more with Real Wealth. It is both more Ali and more Rae than their solo work, recognisable but different. The same, but better.
Crying all around the room I make a mess I can’t get through
I don’t know just what I’d do without you
And if we lost all it on red I would bet on us again
Cause we are one in a million
In many ways, Rae and Ali seemed just as surprised as I was to find themselves recording together.
RAE: For two artists to come together and to be able to take it across the finish line just feels like lightning in a bottle. So I'm really excited about this because I've had so many writing sessions that just fell off or we didn't cut the record... for one Real Wealth there's a hundred ones that didn't make it.
Needless to say, they just kept on talking, and I hope to bring you more of their thoughts soon. But for now, clap your ears around Real Wealth today!
You can catch Ali Angel at all kinds of venues around LA and further afield and you can read more on her own site. She has a funny TikTok account and she shares posts on Instagram regularly. All of her recent music is available direct on Bandcamp.
Rae Isla is also active on social media, especially TikTok and Instagram, and you can sign up to receive her emails on her site. You can buy her music on Bandcamp or stream in all the usual places. A new album will be with you shortly.
