On graduating in 2010 from Birmingham Conservatoire with a degree in Classical & Contemporary Music Composition, Raffertie had already become established in the world of electronic music. Recognised as both a producer and DJ he has a reputation for performances filled with a dynamic energy that saw him play across Europe from Fabric to Space as well as festivals Glastonbury and Bestival before he had graduated.
Raffertie has experimented with numerous styles, displaying the depth of his production skill across releases for Planet Mu, Black Acre, Super Recordings, Domino, Atlantic, Moshi Moshi and Ninja Tune for which he has received accolades from Simon Reynolds, Huw Stephens and Mary Anne Hobbes.
Hobbes first championed Raffertie when he did a session for her on 7 January 2008 on her BBC Radio 1 Experimental show. He also did another session on BBC Radio 1 for Rob Da Bank in June 2009.
In April 2009, Raffertie's first remix of the Scottish act Franz Ferdinand "No You Girls" (the original reached No. 22 in the UK Singles Chart) was released on Domino. Also, in 2009 Raffertie played at Glade Festival and his track "Do dat" featured on A Trak's Fabric Live 45 mix in March.
"7th dimension," released on Planet Mu, was record of the week on Nick Grimshaw's show on BBC Radio 1 for the week of 18 January 2010.
After graduating in 2010, Raffertie founded Super Recordings and, in 2011, signed a record deal with independent UK record label, Ninja Tune.
"Visual Acuity EP," his first physical release for Ninja Tune was record of the week on Nick Grimshaw's show on BBC Radio 1, who described it as "Crazy, but so, so good." It also received airplay from Rob Da Bank, Lauren Laverne, Huw Stephens, Jen Long and Mary Anne Hobbs.
The debut album Sleep of Reason was released in August 2013 on Ninja Tune.
Trust
Raffertie Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
This was it
If someone told me
Who to kiss
If someone told me
How it ends
If someone told me
If you do it again
If you do it again
Might be my heart
Try to let go and live it again
If I let go I'll do it again
When we let go we'll never begin
Inside your soul sing it
It's hard to say
It's hard to look
In your eyes
And fall again
In pieces
If you do it again
Might be
If you do it again
Might be my heart
The lyrics to Raffertie's song Trust are quite abstract and open to multiple interpretations, so it can be hard to say exactly what they mean. In the beginning of the song, the singer seems to be contemplating the idea of someone else having control over their life. They imagine someone telling them who to kiss, how things will end, and cautioning them about repeating past mistakes. These lines seem to reflect some anxiety around losing agency and control over their own life, and the fear that someone else could make choices that would hurt them.
The chorus of the song offers a more hopeful perspective, with the repeated refrain, "If you do it again, might be my heart." Here, the singer seems to be giving someone else permission to take a risk with their heart - to try something again even if it might end in heartbreak. It's possible that the singer is thinking about a past relationship or experience where they were hurt, and is now open to the idea of trying again despite the risks involved. The lines, "Try to let go and live it again / If I let go I'll do it again / When we let go we'll never begin" seem to reinforce this idea of taking a leap of faith and trying again, despite the possibility of getting hurt.
The final lines of the song - "Inside your soul, sing it / It's hard to say / It's hard to look / In your eyes / And fall again / In pieces" - leave the ending of the story somewhat ambiguous. Is the singer expressing their reluctance to trust again, or their inability to resist falling for someone even when they know it might end badly? The image of falling apart "in pieces" suggests that this is a painful experience, but the song as a whole feels surprisingly optimistic and energized, despite its themes of risk and vulnerability.
Line by Line Meaning
If someone told me
If someone informed me
This was it
That this was the end
If someone told me
If someone informed me
Who to kiss
Who I should show affection to
If someone told me
If someone informed me
How it ends
What the outcome will be
If someone told me
If someone informed me
If you do it again
If you repeat your actions
Might be
Perhaps it will
If you do it again
If you repeat your actions
Might be my heart
It could potentially affect my emotions deeply
Try to let go and live it again
Attempt to move on and experience it anew
If I let go I'll do it again
If I move on, I may repeat my past actions
When we let go we'll never begin
By moving on, we miss out on new opportunities
Inside your soul sing it
Express your innermost feelings
It's hard to say
It's difficult to articulate
It's hard to look
It's tough to face
In your eyes
As reflected in your gaze
And fall again
To succumb once more
In pieces
Shattered and broken
Contributed by Sarah E. Suggest a correction in the comments below.