'The press infantilised me like I was this innocent girl'

With her album up for a Mercury Prize, Corinne Bailey Rae tells Annabel Nugent about the influence behind it, shaking off her easy listening era and remembering Amy Winehouse

- Annabel Nugent

Celebrities are rarely who you think they are, but the discrepancy between the soft-spoken Corinne Bailey Rae of her early magazine profiles and the outspoken musician in front of me today is surprising all the same. “In the British press, I was seen as boring and straight,” says the singer, who is now 45 and still lives in her hometown of Leeds. “I was making acoustic music, wearing these kinds of old-fashioned dresses.” She raises her eyebrows. “I was also married. I was so not interesting to them.”

Her perceived dullness was a blessing in a way. Before her 30th birthday, Bailey Rae had achieved a level of fame that might’ve combusted with the wrong kind of kindling. Her self-titled debut shot to No 1 upon its release in 2006 (in the US, it stayed on the Billboard 200 for the next year and a half) and her swoony second single “Put Your Records On” reached No 2 on the singles chart. She was nominated for Grammys and Brits (three each) and performed at the White House on the invitation of Barack Obama. Her admirers include Oprah Winfrey, Stevie Wonder and Mary J Blige. Prince was a fan.

Bailey Rae’s neo-soul pop remains a staple at cafés and on easy listening Spotify playlists. More recently, a TikTok trend introduced a new generation of fans to the palm-tree sway of those breezy early hits. So when Black Rainbows arrived last year, a fistful of politics set to heavy beats and scuzzy guitar, it struck like a bolt from the blue. As did its place on the shortlist for this year’s Mercury Prize award, which came as a shock to the singer – albeit less so following the string of rave reviews upon the album’s release. The awards will take place tonight and see Bailey Rae, nominated once before in 2010, in good company alongside Charli XCX, Dublin pop singer CMAT, and London rapper Ghetts.