Audiopile Review: After gifting the world ML Buch’s 2024 breakthrough, the decade-defining Suntub, Copenhagen’s 15 Love imprint return with the debut LP from Raisa K, who might be best known as a member of odd-pop phenoms Micachu & The Shapes, (currently going by Good Sad Happy Bad). Affectionately certainly carries on the skewed approach of her now seemingly dormant group, with both her bandmates Mica Levi and Marc Pell contributing here, but, make no mistake, Raisa’s got her own thang going on. Apparently a longtime in the making, Raisa’s debut just happens to land at a time when the pop underground is punching well above its weight, entering easily into the orbit of Astrid Sonne, ML Buch, Tirzah, and Helen Island. That said, Affectionately is a little harder to define, the references are far more obscured and opaque compared to some of her contemporaries. A whir of static pads, glitching tones and scattered percussion don’t seem like they would work as the basis for what is essentially a dream-pop album, or at least what would pass as this decade’s revisionist version of one. But it’s Raisa’s hushed vocals, a cross between Trish Keenan’s wide-eyed wonderment and Mary Timony’s vulnerability, that gives the album a soft, radiant core. And when the defences are fully withdrawn, as in the nakedly open “Stay”, a quiet duet with Coby Sey, we get to hear Raisa’s intimate vocals unguarded by her unorthodox production, and it is heart-stopping. Another crushingly affective album from 15 Love, and a year-end highlight debut from Raisa K.

***

‘Affectionately’ is the debut album by London based songwriter and musician Raisa K. With self produced instrumentals supporting Raisa’s signature vocal performance, the record delves into the intricate emotional cycles of relationships with heartfelt sincerity.

Melodies appear simple and direct, while the themes explored present a great level of complexity. Whether about trust, kindness, doubt, frustration, annoyance, regret, honesty, insecurity, loneliness or friendship, each of the album’s twelve songs lie somewhere in between a diary and a letter.

‘Affectionately’ is almost entirely produced on Raisa’s laptop and written in her home in London, as well as finding small pockets of time on trains and buses, during breaks at work, during the kids’ nap-times, at the playground, in the park.