Raven Numan releases new single ‘Just A Number’

Rising to become the new queen of darkness, Raven Numan’s early tracks and singular sense of style has been heralded with a wave of influential early fans including Daniel P. Carter at Radio 1, Kerrang!, Shirley Manson of Garbage, FAULT and ODALïSQUE. But just as you began to think you could second guess her next move, Raven Numan now takes an intriguing detour with the new single ‘Just A Number’.

While ‘Just A Number’ is largely shorn of the industrial and dark-pop embellishments that made her previous singles so compelling, it’s a song that unmasks its intensity in a markedly different way. Mournful cello and unguarded piano prove to be the dominant textures in a song which uses its streamlined space to expose the horror of its emotions. Raven’s voice is as beautifully beguiling as ever, but her words capture the desolation of giving everything of yourself to someone… and the tragedy of receiving almost nothing in return.

Raven says, “‘Just A Number’ is about a really tumultuous relationship along with the feeling of being objectified. It’s been a work in progress for about three years and chronicles a lot of the negative aspects and feelings that were brought up by careless and hurtful things I heard from my partner at the time. The line ‘that bitch will never be me’ is drawn from everything I found out about him and the girls he was seeing while we were together. I settled on the title from feeling that I was just a number to someone that neglected almost everything from the relationship aside from sex. I felt as if I meant nothing more than ‘Just A Number’.”

‘Just A Number’ comes from a different space in Raven’s growing songbook, but its vulnerability is entirely in keeping the cathartic, blood-letting honesty of her previous lyrics. Collectively, the themes of her songs are coming together like a safe space for fans who are lost in the shadows battling their own frailties and struggles. Each one hones in on a topic with unflinching raw acceptance: ‘My Reflection’ mirrored themes of body confidence and unrealistic beauty standards; ‘Here For You’ looked at addiction and the need to escape daily life; ‘Going Down’ examined the nightmarish experience of suicidal thoughts; and ‘Overwhelming’ addressed the sensory overload that triggers BPD.

Raven Numan’s music feels like an infusion of influences with disparate sonic reference points, yet that are united by a core of inner darkness – think Deftones, Lana Del Rey, Siouxsie & The Banshees, Nine Inch Nails and Ministry. But in childhood, Raven was more likely to be listening to Ariana Grande rather than ‘The Downward Spiral’ until she discovered that making music offered her a creative outlet to counter teenage angst.