Rorie

"Caught you in a story where you didn’t belong"

Songwriters like Rorie make it look so easy to be vulnerable – to put your whole self out there in song. To be clear, there is nothing easy about surrendering your body, mind and soul to music, no matter who you are or what stage of life you’re in. Nevertheless, Rorie considers herself a singer/songwriter whose music “tells stories of both heartache and hope,” and indeed her new song “Storyteller” fulfills on that promise.

"Met you in the middle of a mem’ry
The stories that we tell ourselves to write
Pressed you in a book so I could hold you
Like a poem inside
Read your words like they were really something
Carried you through all these city streets
My nose against the pages when you kissed me
I could never believe"

Heartache is palpable in Rorie’s raw lyrics. “Storyteller,” which Atwood Magazine is excited and proud to be premiering, finds Rorie coming to terms with a love story that wasn’t perhaps there, in reality.

A personal note: I was having a conversation recently with a loved one, where we were discussing what people might be like if they bore their emotions on their skin like colors. Red would be anger, we surmised; blue might be hope. Anger and hope are, I think, “pure” emotions in that they are based on themselves. We reviewed a few other emotions – sadness, joy, fear – before ultimately touching upon love. I couldn’t come up with a color for love, because I do not believe love to be a basic emotion.

"Storyteller" single art - Rorie
“Storyteller” single art – Rorie

If emotions were numbers, then love would have more factors than any other emotion. Love is fear; love is desire; love is happiness and so much more all balled tightly up into a supernova of intense, violent energy. Love is scary because it, in so many ways, is based on our emotions, rather than on common sense or prudence. Rorie captures that complexity perfectly in “Storyteller,” a song she needed to write to come to terms with her love.

American novelist Jonathan Safran Foer is quoted as writing, “I regret that it takes a life to learn how to live.” The same might be said for love, in that it takes being in love, and perhaps out of love, to know how to love. “Storyteller” finds Rorie a little ways down that path: “I wrote it about a relationship that wasn’t everything it seemed to be,” she explains. “I think it can sometimes be easy to try so hard to write someone into your life who maybe isn’t supposed to be there. This song was my way of dealing with that realization. I love books, reading, and writing, so it seemed like a natural way to process and understand the dream world I had created for myself.”

“A dream world.” Love is like that, isn’t it? It blinds us into not completely seeing ourselves and our loves; often we see what we want to see, and cling to that image for as long as it can possibly last – even if it isn’t meant to last. Rorie sings, “Pressed you in a book so I could hold you like a poem inside,” essentially indicting herself for seeing her former love as something that person wasn’t. She holds herself accountable; she is the storyteller.

You were bound to break
Undercover you could hide away
But I could make you bend and pretend
That this would never end
Then you closed yourself like you closed the door
With my fragile heart left ripped and torn
Now you’re placed high on the shelf
Waiting for somebody else

The words feel torn from the most intimate diary entry. Rorie speaks the words everyone with an ex wishes he or she could say, but often doesn’t have the heart or wherewithal to muster. “Storyteller” is Rorie’s attempt to understand a failed relationship as much as it is an attempt to understand herself: What’s passed is in the past, but we can all learn from our mistakes. Perhaps there’s a lesson to take from the loves that don’t last forever.

Rorie makes her introspective position abundantly clear in the “Storyteller” music video, produced and directed by Stephen Stonestreet: “The video portrays a dream-scene with disjointed scenes that were intended to emphasize that feeling you get when you’re dreaming: Like you want to scream but you can’t make a sound, and you want to run but you can’t move.” Rorie goes through scenes of brooding, reading, writing, searching for answers everywhere and in everything she can possibly put her mind to. Her search is, in a sense, futile; she needs to look within herself, rather than out into the world around her, for explanations.

She comes to that realization towards the end of her song: “When I write I find you sliding through the lines that I’m defining,” she sings, supported by a spine-tinglingly naked piano that captures the pain in her experience. “Are you just a storyteller too?” she asks, hoping that perhaps this weight isn’t hers alone to bear.

“Love is blindness,” sang U2. We seldom realize our own blindness until it’s too late, but there is immeasurable catharsis in understanding our mistakes. It is not a failure of love, nor is it a failure of the heart. Perhaps it’s love at the wrong time, or in the wrong place. Perhaps it isn’t love at all, but some other mysterious concoction of emotions disguised as love. Through Rorie’s songwriting and performance and Chad Copelin’s sonic production, “Storyteller” brings to life the tale of a love that was never meant to be – a love strained by two people pretending to create something that wasn’t there.

Rorie’s music will overwhelm you, pushing you to submit yourself to your emotions as Rorie presents herself in the most fragile and vulnerable state. Authenticity rings through her words, and feeling through her music. Give Rorie a listen, and be on the lookout for her Singing & Silence EP, out July 8. - Atwood Magazine

Friday’s are every music enthusiasts’ favorite day of the week; the day new music is released to the public. With so many tracks to listen to each week from artists you already know, it can be hard to find young artists on the rise when they release their first EPs. This week, one of those young artists is an artist named Rorie, a younger singer-songwriter who shares her stories of strength and perseverance through her beautiful melodies. Her new EP “Dawn” is her second EP release, which is a pleasant surprise since her debut EP “Singing & Silence” was released only about a year ago. With a signature electro-pop sound and amazing production value thanks to the efforts of Tommee Profitt, it’s obvious that Rorie will quickly become a well known solo artist of her own right. With two standout EPs under her belt so soon in her musical career, she is definitely one to keep an eye on in the future.

Her new EP releases today to the world, and below are the links to “Dawn.” Check it out, and be sure to keep your eye on Rorie’s journey as a thriving singer-songwriter.

iTunes/Apple Music: http://apple.co/2fOFNvC - Ellenwood EP

What do you get when you take a piano-driven ballad mix it with breathtakingly tender vocals and strong sense of purpose? You get Rorie. The singer/songwriter is on the cusp of releasing her second EP, Dawn, and if you are looking for thematic, epic tracks that cross the genres of electro-pop and dream pop, then look no further. Her dreamy, sensual voice reaches into the depths of one’s soul and stirs those long dormant emotions of longing and heartache.

And let’s not forget that beyond that near-perfect voice, the Washington, DC-based artist has a gift in her ability to turn a phrase that keep her lyrics approachable and relatable. Rorie‘s brilliance can also be noted in her hopeful storytelling through out the EP that intertwines itself to the emotions that imprints a sense of connection.

Rorie is everything you could want in an artist and it all shines through on Dawn. In addition to her sweetness and ethereal piano melodies, her worked with award winning producer Tommee Profitt, which helped engage and expand the dramatic soundscape on each track. His influence helps develop her sound to seem more grandiose. It is the touch of two artists in tune with one another creating a masterpiece.

If you really are looking for something that crosses genre lines, is insanely well written and executed to perfection, then do not hesitate to grab Dawn by Rorie. It is sublime in its complexity and yet stunningly easy to listen to.

The brand new EP, Dawn, by Rorie is available now on iTunes. And check out the latest single, “Gold”, from singer/songwriter on SoundCloud below. - Lemonade Magazine

Rorie: Cinematic indie pop soundscape that houses verses that hit deep and hit true while being delivered by a voice that is mesmerizing and full of emotions and a story that can be felt as ours – fall in love with the verses, the melody and that unknown that exudes from Rorie. - Wolf in a Suit

Rorie is an upcoming singer and songwriter who blends the electronic and cinematic into an intriguing brand of pop with a dreamy twist. Today is not just a regular Friday for her. She dropped her beautiful Dawn EP today! The collection of four songs moves between anthemic ballads (‘Fall and Rise’) and mysterious electronic pop (‘Measureless’). ‘Gold’ is a strings and piano driven gem and title track ‘Dawn’ might be the catchiest and poppiest one of them all. All four tracks have a distinct identity and yet they blend so well with each other. Stunning EP! - A Bit of Pop Music

Hope does exist. It’s exemplified in many different ways, through doves, white light, the rising sun piercing through darkness. It’s depicted as something pure, or something breaking through whatever is holding it captive. It’s something we all reach for, mythical as it may be at times.

Rorie is a singer-songwriter who promotes hope, love, and the occasional heartbreak in her music regularly. She reminds us to, and helps us, fight through the darkness and find the light on the other side. Her latest single, “Dawn,” might be the most perfect example of that yet.

Shrouded in instrumentation that resembles a dreary, rain-soaked alleyway, Rorie sings of struggles. Her gorgeous voice is lowered down to a subtle but powerful tone, allowing us to relate to the downtrodden feeling of not being able to see a clear path forward. It’s not her voice that ends up being a light at the end of the tunnel though, unlike many of her other tracks. Sure, it’s the brightest point in the song, but it’s there to deliver a particularly important message: do not give up.



“Keeping up the pace, I will run this race” sings Rorie. The lyrics remind us that, no matter how rough things get, that things will be better if we push through. It’s not difficult to imagine Rorie as our compassionate hero in this instance, cheering us on and giving us the means to break through the wall.

“Dawn” was produced by the one and only, award-winning producer Tommee Profitt. It is released officially tomorrow but you can take an early listen via our premiere below. Be sure to snag it up once it’s released as well. - PlaylistPlay