By: Alex Webster

Recent Interscope Records signee, Billy Raffoul, is all but twenty-two years old and is already being compared to the likes of Neil Young thanks to his impressive low-timbered rock and roll sound and voice that is full of smoke, personality, and depth. Raffoul grew up in an exceptionally artistic household in Ontario, Canada where his father was a musician and his mother an artist; Raffoul said in an interview with VentsMagazine that “The Beatles were like Jesus in our house”, and I have to agree. Though he’s still a relatively small artist, it is undeniable that he has a future ahead of him and he’s quickly gaining traction in the music industry with a collaboration with Avicii and currently boasts an upwards of 750,000 monthly Spotify listeners—me being one of them.

Raffoul’s most popular song and debut single is ‘Driver’ and with it he proves that he is much more than just a singer/songwriter—he’s a storyteller. ‘Driver’ is about a person who is lost in life by using the metaphor of a hitchhiker wandering on the side of the road; Raffoul actually wrote this song from an experience he had picking up a hitchhiker after a gig and turned it into something more. The song starts slow, with lyrics that are full of emotion and imagery and continues steadily until finally breaking into the electrifying chorus which is loud, retro, and sexy.

The music video for ‘Driver’ shows Raffoul being true to his lyrics with a deep and emotional performance all while portraying an addict; the music video is truly representative of the theme of feeling lost as Raffoul is seen walking on walls, hanging from ceilings, and falling off a bridge in eerie slow motion creating an overall woozy atmosphere around the song.

Billy Raffoul has the kind of music that anyone could listen to and enjoy. His voice is comparable to that of James Bay but is deeper and richer, and to me, has the capacity to convey more emotion and soul. Raffoul’s lyrics have a genuine feeling that radiates from them making the audience completely feel the weight that each word he sings holds such as in ‘Dark Four Door’ where he casually shattered my soul. ‘Dark Four Door’ is a quiet, lost-love song with a simple guitar accompaniment, allowing his incredible range and variety of his strong, raspy vocals to take center stage. His lyricism is evident in lines such as:

“I went south to define me and someday, you’ll find me, no different than I was before”.

‘Dark Four Door’ is so heart-achingly good and real that you feel the heartbreak along with Raffoul and it leaves you needing more. Honestly, all of Billy Raffoul’s tracks are incredible with each one containing depth, a unique story, and incredible lyricism. He has the kind of voice where he could be reading the dictionary and it would still captivate an audience. He has proved that he has the ability to be gentle, reflective, and romantic while not being cheesy or superficial. His roots in rock, soul, and indie create a sound that is so timeless, it’s easy to forget what decade you are in. Raffoul is an old-soul artist who is perfectly rough around the edges and with that, he has the potential to succeed and make a name for himself.

Billy Raffoul is currently on tour with NEEDTOBREATHE.