Music has always been there for us through every season of life. It has given us comfort when we needed it most, it has made us feel understood when no one else could and above all it has helped us heal our hearts and find ourselves again. It takes a brilliant writer with a fragile but the purest heart to create art with the deepest meaning and most genuine intentions. If you know Rachel Grae, this is exactly how you‘d describe the power she holds with a voice and mind like no other.
With the release of her sophomore album Turned Into Me, Rachel has given us a new companion that will become a part of our lives for years to come. She has dreamed about releasing an album like this for a very long time and once you have pressed play on it, you will be grateful she did.
The concept is simple, but genius: older me vs. younger me, showing the space between who she was and who she’s become. The album unfolds almost like a conversation, where moments of heartbreak, anger, and healing serve as emotional mirrors, reflecting and resonating across different songs. Listening from start to finish you’ll notice how these mirrors stretch throughout the album, connecting feelings and experiences in powerful, sometimes surprising ways. So let’s look at them side by side from top to bottom.
Run with the River and Safe with Me
Both of these songs were released prior to the album, but hearing them in the context of the record makes their connection feel much clearer.
In Safe With Me, we see the younger version of Rachel, the one who wanted to protect someone else’s peace while losing her own at the same time. It’s the kind of love where you stay quiet, you struggle with it for a long time, until you have nothing left to give.
“I took my last breath to give you life
I take all that you give me ’til it eats me alive”
It perfectly describes that kind of relationship and the extent of it.
Run with the River, however, shows the other side of that story. It’s the older, wiser Rachel finally refusing to be pulled under by the same person and the same patterns. Instead of drowning in it, she lets the past wash over her and leaves that version of herself behind. The metaphor of running with the river beautifully captures the idea of moving forward instead of fighting against change. And the fact that this was the opening song on tour back in October, adds that extra layer of meaning to it.
“Yeah, you tried to drown me out
But you’ll listеn to me now
I won’t run with the river”
You can see and hear the growth Rachel has gone through from what she used to tolerate to what she is choosing to do now. Put together, these two songs perfectly set the tone for the album’s central idea.
Raised by a Woman and Me You and Your Ego
These two tracks capture the tension between recognizing healthy love and confronting the toxicity that made her redefine it.
Raised by a Woman feels grounded in emotional maturity and mutual respect, celebrating the great qualities a man can have when raised right. It ultimately reinforces the idea that women shouldn’t have to ask for basic care and respect in a relationship. You might call it princess treatment, but in reality it’s simply the bare minimum.
“The way that you give your love, no hold back
I can tell that you were raised by a woman”
Me You and Your Ego on the other hand, carries a lot of attitude and honesty and exposes the frustration of being stuck with someone whose ego keeps getting in the way of real connection.There’s a sense of empowerment in setting boundaries and recognizing your own worth. It’s a song you put on to scream in the car, to let your anger out and feel way better afterwards.
“God, you’re so narcissistic
I’m sick of dealing with it
It’s like a competition
Me, you, and your ego
Oh, pick onе and let me know”
Together, they show how Rachel’s standards evolved through experience and how clarity often comes from surviving the opposite. Instead of romanticizing red flags or begging for change, she now understands the difference between someone who shows up for you and a narcissist who only shows up for themselves.
Need Your Love and Easy For You
After exploring both sides of love and growth, these two tracks reveal another layer of her transformation.
Need Your Love centers on reclaiming power and setting firm boundaries after being treated like an option, refusing to accept love that comes with disrespect or imbalance. It’s bold, direct, and unapologetic.
“You’re a liar, you’re lyin’ to my face
Yeah, you think you’re the one
but you don’t know your place”
In contrast, Easy For You lingers in the emotional aftermath, capturing the questions that follow heartbreak and the confusion of watching someone walk away and move on effortlessly like it meant nothing while you were left carrying the pain of it.
“You’re the hardest thing I’ve ever had to lose
So, why was it so easy for you?
Don’t know if I’m okay or if I’ll ever know
‘Cause sometimes the closest thing to closure
Is to learn to let go”
There is a reason why this is an absolute fan favorite. The honesty in the lyrics makes it incredibly relatable. While it can feel extremely heavy and heartbreaking at first, it will also give you a lot of comfort and a sense of “I am not alone”.
Together, the two songs reflect the shift from self-doubt to self-assurance, showing how experience turned pain into perspective. Sometimes, the only way to move forward is letting go of what you cannot change. Chapters end and new ones will begin.
Don’t Waste Your Breath and Tell Me Why
When placed next to each other, these songs highlight a powerful shift in perspective.
In Tell Me Why, Rachel sits in the confusion and heartbreak of unanswered questions, desperate to understand why someone pulled away, spread stories, or made her feel like a fool. It’s raw and vulnerable, filled with that restless need for closure and the ache of trying to make sense of it all.
“I gave all of my lovin’ for nothin’
You need to tell me why, why, why, why
[…]
You still have a heart
‘Cause you took mine from me”
In contrast, Don’t Waste Your Breath feels like the breakthrough moment where she stops chasing explanations altogether. Instead of entertaining excuses or defending herself against noise, she sets the boundary and chooses peace over proving her truth. It feels like reaching a point where you no longer have the energy to argue and you choose peace and to walk away instead.
“And you’re not to blame but I can’t say it ain’t your fault
That I’m out here doin’ my best flyin’ high above it all”
Side by side, they capture the evolution from searching for answers to realizing she no longer needs them. Rachel sends a clear message: Until you’re ready for the conversation, don’t waste your breath on me.
Good Feeling and Not About a Boy
After confronting heartbreak and ego, the focus shifts toward something softer and more personal.
Good Feeling feels like a moment of light in the album. After so many heavy emotions, this song brings a sense of hope and relief. Rachel makes a conscious decision to walk away from negativity and follow whatever brings her joy, confidence and clarity. It’s about protecting her energy, letting go of what weighs her down and recognizing that her happiness is something she gets to claim for herself.
Not About A Boy (Interlude) feels like a turning point on the album. It reminds listeners that the story isn’t really about someone else but about self-discovery and personal growth. It shows that happiness doesn’t necessarily come from a guy or a relationship but from within yourself.
Taken together, they reinforce that her growth isn’t about filling space with someone new, but about choosing herself first.
Come a Day and Sorry For Her
Looking at these songs together feels like the emotional backbone of the album.
In Come A Day, the focus is on uncertainty and self-doubt, sitting in the middle of anxiety while holding onto hope that one day things will feel lighter and more grounded. It captures the struggle of not feeling okay but still believing change is possible. Trying to explain our love for this song is like telling a child how loved it is, without squeezing it to death. When Rachel teased it for the first time last year, we immediately connected to it but had no idea that it would not only become our life’s anthem, but a crucial part to our healing journeys.
“All I know, all I know is that I’m not okay
But there will come a day
There will come a day
[…]
A day when I’m happy, and a day I can breathе
With no second guessin’, or anxiety”
Getting to hear these lyrics live on tour was an experience none of us were prepared for, but it surely left its positive imprint on our fragile little hearts who needed to hear it more than Rachel will ever know. Personally, the song has accompanied me through a really tough time – even before it was released – and I could not be more grateful to Rachel for sharing it with us when she did. Music has a way of being there for us through every part of our stories and this song will continue to be the masterpiece we didn’t see coming.
In contrast, Sorry For Her feels like the emotional closing chapter, reflecting from a place of growth, looking back with compassion instead of judgment. It’s also healing in a way, like saying sorry for everything we’ve been through but also recognizing that those experiences shaped who we have become, which we can and should be grateful for.
“Now it’s time to let it out, let it out
Over now, anythin’ to get myself to breathe
I’m sorry for her but I’m grateful she turned into me”
As the album closes, this pair brings everything full circle, showing that healing isn’t about erasing who you were, it’s about understanding how every version of yourself led you here and helped you become the person you were meant to be.
On a deeper level, this album has meant so much to a lot of us because it feels like we’ve grown alongside Rachel. Looking back at her debut album Journal No.1 – which we also extensively talked about in our previous album review – we saw a young artist pouring her heart out, finding her voice and giving us a scrapbook of raw emotions and honest lyrics.
With Turned Into Me, that same honesty has evolved into reflection and storytelling – the songs are more cohesive, confident, and purposeful, showing not just what Rachel felt, but how she’s grown. The impact of this album goes beyond streaming numbers; it has touched us in ways she may never fully see, as we find pieces of our own stories in these songs – whether we’re healing, heartbroken, or stepping into confidence after hardship.
Rachel’s biggest goal in life is to heal people, or at least allow them to feel like someone else understands what they’re going through, and that intention has come through clearly in every song she has ever released. She puts words to emotions we couldn’t explain and helps us process things we didn’t even realize we were carrying. She has become our therapist not only through the raw and honest lyrics she writes, but by taking the time to share her thoughts, by giving the advice we needed to move forward and by simply being someone who cares deeply.
Her music is meant to meet people wherever they are in life and it really has. From the early songs to the ones we’re hearing now, we’ve been there through every version of her, singing lyrics back that once lived quietly in her room. That connection is special, and it proves that the relationship between an artist and her community can grow just as deeply as the music itself.
Turned Into Me tells a story with different chapters that felt heavy at times, but led to acceptance, understanding and growth. It acknowledges that growth isn’t linear, clean or easy while also showing how powerful it can be to face your past and learn from it. It’s not just a collection of meaningful songs – it’s a reminder that healing is possible and that there is hope and happiness on the other side. The path to becoming ourselves isn’t always easy but somehow it’s exactly the road we were meant to take.
What happens to us does not define us; it simply becomes a part of our stories and that every version of yourself mattered in the journey of turning into who you are today.
Rachel Grae has impacted our lives tremendously in more ways than she will ever fully understand. By being herself wholeheartedly, she left an imprint on our hearts and continues to be the one who is helping us turn into who we are destined to be.
ROARA Magazine 