Raech celebrates life with honest songs of highs and lows in new album

In a follow up to her debut album 'Finally Clear', Parkes' Raechel Whitchurch is set to release her second album 'What A Time To Be Alive' on Friday, May 24. With everything going amazingly in her music career following the release of Raechel's debut album in 2021, nominated for two Golden Guitars, touring with Adam Harvey for 12 months and 'Finally Clear' hitting number one on the ARIA Australian Country charts, simultaneously Raechel said she was going through some pretty hard things personally. While they were going through the highest of highs professionally, during the period from 2020 to 2023, Raechel said they also went through the lowest of lows - living through a global pandemic during the release of her first album, losing a grandmother and having a miscarriage. Raechel said she drew upon all of her experiences through this period for her second album. "I write usually from my experience, that's my way of writing," she said. "I live and take in the world, life and what's happening for me and then it comes out in song. "Topically I was writing about all of these things that were happening to me. In a way I guess, it was my journey through 2020 to 2023," Raechel said. During this time Raechel said everyone was facing the same thing through the lockdowns and facing life going on but feeling so surreal. It was a major reason while she called the album 'What A Time to Be Alive' as it encapsulates both the sincere meaning of the phrase, as well as the ironic usage of the phrase. Raechel said 'What A Time To Be Alive' is very much a second part to her first album, 'Finally Clear', with her songs a little more modern sounding, though very much sitting in the country music world. The main difference with this album, Raechel said, was that she challenged herself to write lyrics which were 100 percent honest and very raw. "Often I think I'm guilty of trying to pretty things up," she said. "What I mean by that is I want to sing about something but I want to make it palatable to the general public, I want them to hear it and I want them to not feel uncomfortable when they hear it." She followed through with making this album more honestly and leaving the songs in their rawest form - both in the highs and the lows. "So far the response to that has been so beautiful. I was worried that it would make people feel isolated from my music, that they would feel like they can't relate, but if anything it's had the opposite effect," Raechel said. Raechel has been releasing singles from her new album since 2023 in the build up to its full release. Raechel will take the stage at this year's Frost and Fire event in Forbes on Saturday, June 22, with Gracey Jones and Cameron Sharp, Em Cler and Jo, and Vera Blue.