Raffaella Breaks Down Her New EP LIVE, RAFF, LOVE (Act II) Track by Track: Exclusive

Venus Rittenberg
·6 min read

The post Raffaella Breaks Down Her New EP LIVE, RAFF, LOVE (Act II) Track by Track: Exclusive appeared first on Consequence.

Track by Track is our recurring feature series in which artists guide readers through each song on a release. Today, Raffaella gets into her brand new EP, LIVE, RAFF, LOVE (Act II).

Indie pop songwriter and Consequence CoSign Raffaella has released a brand new EP, LIVE, RAFF, LOVE (Act II), a follow up to 2022’s ACT I EP. Bigger and darker, the second act functions as the shadow to the first act’s light, creating a dialogue between each other. If Act I was a revolution, Act II is a revelation.

Each song on LIVE, RAFF, LOVE (Act II) acts as a companion piece to its respective counterpart on the previous EP, and each song pairing has its own overarching theme. Some touch on more abstract ideas like love and adulthood, while others get more complex and detailed, such as learning to speak up for oneself in spite of expectations to be the ideal woman. On the hyperpop anthem “POLLY POCKET,” for example, Raffaella tries capturing the anger ignited by the overturning of Roe V. Wade. “I don’t really know how else to put it other than my body has suddenly become the thing that surrounds my IUD,” she explains.

Watch the new video for “POLLY POCKET” below, and read on for Raffaella’s full track by track breakdown of LIVE, RAFF, LOVE (Act II).

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Love: “Come to nyc, pls” —> “Gush:”

The prospect of falling in love (“Come to nyc, pls”) becomes the reality of having fallen (“Gush”). Act I’s love song peeks at optimism despite any potential humiliation (open mouth smiling with “hope stuck in my teeth”). Act II’s grabs the wheel and goes full speed ahead — “I could spend my whole life loving you/ Hey, can you teach me how to drive?”

It was scary to imagine the possibility of losing something before I had the chance to experience it — it’s even scarier to catch it and hope it never wants to let go.

Avoidance/Delusion: “BUICK” —> “Fcking Smiling:”

In “BUICK” I chose perpetual delusion — partly because it’s about someone I was okay with losing and, for him, maturity felt unwarranted. “Fcking Smiling,” however, confronts the consequences of avoidance after a falling out with someone who means the world to me. The first is a break up; the second is a heart break.

Whoever thought ‘ignorance is bliss’ (“BUICK”) woke up and realized that ignorance can quickly turn into hell (“Fcking Smiling”).

The Idealized Woman: “BLONDE” —> “Man of Your Dreams:”

“BLONDE” and “Man of Your Dreams” are about wanting to be good enough — specifically adapting my identity for the imagined betterment of others.

The idea that dying my hair blonde would make my family proud of me (half joking) morphs into a prayer for a re-do from Mother Mary, the only person who can make us into some sort of savior… something impossibly good… something that exists entirely for you.

I can fulfill the promises I make in “BLONDE” — I mean, after writing that song I immediately bleached my hair. “Man Of Your Dreams’” promises, however, are forever unfulfilled — I cannot be bloodletting and sexy and I cannot pay for everything. The impossibility of the promise sheds light on the impossibility of the pursuit — despite the odds/the satirical tone, we are genuinely still trying, be it by way of bleach or martyr complexes — though one is definitely more exhausting than the other.

Adulthood: “GROWN UP” —> “POLLY POCKET:”

“GROWN UP” is me coming to terms with the fact that I’m an adult by absolutely proving to everybody that I am not, using words that only children would use: “I buy my groceries at the grocery store…” That being said, truth exists in paradox, I am both an adult and a child, we are never adults, that’s a made up thing…

Until it’s not and you realize that a woman’s body is a possible obstacle to her liberty.

It’s hard to express the rage and grief sparked by the reversal of Roe V. Wade. I don’t really know how else to put it other than my body has suddenly become the thing that surrounds my I.U.D…. they’ve diminished and devalued my humanity and turned it into biological property.

We should not exist under the threat of becoming pregnant — this is what “POLLY POCKET” is about. It is… a pop song… verging on hyperpop… so that’s maybe contextually unexpected. At first it was scary to introduce levity to something so heavy — it’s a sensitive subject and I would never want to make light of other people’s experiences. But then I realized that if we are going to talk about this out loud, we have to find ways to de-stigmatize the fear that surrounds this discussion. We have to speak plainly — “if you want me to keep it/ maybe you should carry it” — and remember that humor helps us deal with horror. there is always humor in horror.

To sum it up: “GROWN UP” is a fledgling fledged bird’s first flight —> “POLLY POCKET” is the caged bird singing.

Melodrama: “DRAMA QUEEN” —> “MILLENNIAL:”

In “DRAMA QUEEN” I reject judgments of inadequacy projected on me; in “MILLENNIAL” I absorb, amplify and spiral into them.

“DRAMA QUEEN’s” anger is bright pink and playful; “MILLENNIAL’s” is dark red and sinking into a depression. It’s a lot easier to blame someone else for making you feel crazy… the person who lyrically inspired “DRAMA QUEEN” was particularly convenient for that since I didn’t really care for them and they were mean to my loved ones. “MILLENNIAL” exists in the shadow of that tendency to overreact to everything that has ever happened to me… except this time I only had myself to blame.

In Act I it was fun to be angry —> in Act II that anger turned sour and led to feelings of nihilism and spiritual bankruptcy. oops.

Shut up —> Speak up: “LIPSTICK” —> “ROWAN:”

Sometimes I trick myself into thinking that if I don’t say something out loud then it isn’t real and so it isn’t scary. “LIPSTICK” is about how things got weird between my close friend and I after we started getting drunk to kiss each other — writing this gave me the opportunity to say what I wish I could’ve said at the time.

Despite the thematic connection, the subjects of these two songs couldn’t be more different — one’s an angel and the other’s a devil (Rowan being the latter). As with most horrible people, he cared mainly about his reputation, so I named the song after him. I learned how to silence myself under his watch. I was 14 when he was in my life… 13 years later I can finally speak up.


Raffaella Breaks Down Her New EP LIVE, RAFF, LOVE (Act II) Track by Track: Exclusive
Venus Rittenberg

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