It’s rare for a budding artist to use their platform to state primarily what they aren’t about. London singer-songwriter George Riley does this throughout her new record Running in Waves: She doesn’t mingle with fickle or fake people, doesn’t want to sacrifice opportunities for love, and doesn’t pretend to have all the answers. In 2021, Riley received a pop star’s introduction to the world with a standout feature on Manchester producer Anz’s cosmopolitan club smash “You Could Be,” followed shortly thereafter by her own interest rates, a tape. The self-released mixtape presented a freewheeling mish-mash of R&B, jungle, 2-step, and jazz while finding room to explore weighty ideas—Eurocentric beauty standards, the whitewashing of climate activism—that Riley, a graduate in politics and philosophy, managed to tackle without seeming trite.
Executive produced by PLZ Make It Ruins label head Vegyn, Running in Waves is more carefully honed. This time, rather than thinking about societal issues, Riley turns her focus inward. The palette has changed accordingly, favoring lean basslines, soft beds of synthesizer, and solemn strings, all calibrated to foreground Riley’s soft yet forcefully emotive voice.
On “Time,” she lets a laid-back jungle break soundtrack a fantasy of a night out—“I like good guys and nice food/Happy weed and Camper shoes”—but her hedonism hides a warning: “I’m very protective over my space/I don’t let no one in unless I’m satisfied they’re good and humble.” The restrained drum programming and sleek synths on “Running in Waves” frame a simple self-affirmation: “There’s no one else right here/I believe it’s me and me and me and me right here.” On “Sacrifice,” she resists having to give up anything for love; the premise is similar to the Weeknd’s song of the same name, but Riley’s version is more emotionally cutting, backed by humming microwave synths and withering strings that phase into a singular, aching harmony.
The most intimate tracks sound like they were recorded in Riley’s bedroom. On “Desire,” over a clean-lined electro groove and sparkling electric piano, she ventures, “I should stay here for the moment/Shouldn’t run away to be lonesome.” She works through her feelings for an ex on “Delusion,” delivering a confident kiss-off over a muted breakbeat and glowing chords. Riley’s vocals frequently have the intensity of a late-night session recorded while trying hard not to wake the neighbors, yet her lyrics are defiantly self-centered—in a good way. “I’m not denying my wants this time,” she sings on “Jealousy,” a lithe R&B jam; “I wanna see the world, or what’s left of it.”
That forthrightness is a big part of the charm of Running in Waves. Despite the softness of her voice and the undercurrent of self-doubt, Riley is determined to carve out her place, no matter whether she’s singing over jungle breaks or the gentlest soul. As she sings on “Acceptance,” “I trusted my intuition/Hasn’t failed me yet/That is the thing that keeps me winning/So I’m gonna keep on moving.”
