As we continue to count down to the 27 March release of Raye’s hotly anticipated second album - This Music May Contain Hope is the follow-up to 2023’s multi-award-winning My 21st Century Blues - one of the record’s key collaborators has been giving us a little insight into how it was made and what we can expect from it.
Already credited as the co-writer and producer of lead single Where Is My Husband!, it seems likely that Mike Sabath was involved in multiple tracks on the new album, and he recently spoke to Music Week about how the project began.
Sabath says that work on the new record started in 2025, after Raye had finished touring My 21st Century Blues.
“We went to Big Bear [Lake], a ski town in California, and rented an Airbnb,” he reveals. “I brought two speakers, keyboards and a vocal mic, and moved the dining table. It was the beginning of the process. We ended up getting some serious songs, including …Husband! That’s how we create the real ones: in the quiet moments.”
In fact, such was the relaxed and calming vibe, Sabath says that there came a point when he had to refocus and make sure that they got on with some work.
“In our downtime, we’d watch Korean reality shows or walk in the mountains. Raye is obsessed with games of all kinds, like Rummikub and cards. The first couple of days I was cooking a lot, too, and I don’t cook often. I was making a skirt steak with rice and salad, but I’m not efficient and it took four hours. I was, like, ‘OK, we’ve got to shift this – I’m supposed to be making songs!’”
As well as discussing the production of Where Is My Husband! - something he’s spoken about before - Sabath also touches on the incredible reaction that the song has been given, particularly on social media.
“When the ‘diamond ring’ challenge was starting to go off [fans have been encouraging each other to try and recreate Raye’s complex Where Is My Husband! vocal runs] it kept showing up on my Instagram feed. It was so cute, so special. It was crazy to see so many people trying it!”
Sabath also appreciates the recognition he’s been getting from certain fellow producers: “Mark Ronson DM’d me,” he says [Ronson worked with Raye on 2025 standalone single Suzanne]. He was like, ‘Nice.’ And I was like, ‘Fuck yeah!’”
Elsewhere in the interview, Sabath indicates that he has his mind on higher powers when he’s creating: “I believe that what makes something great is its proximity to God – that’s one way to put it – or its proximity to nature or truth.
“I’m not saying that you can feel God when you listen to …Husband!. But, definitely, my goal as a creator is to try to keep it as pure as possible without getting in the way. My aim is greatness. And greatness to me in this moment means pure.”
As for the rest of the new album, Sabath says he’s just excited for everybody else to hear it. “It’s outrageous,” he teases, but we’ll have to wait just a few more weeks for the big reveal.
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