#vilray

[krispyweiss]

Song Review: Rachael & Vilray with Stephen Colbert - “Off Broadway” (Colbert)

Stephen Colbert’s harmony singing is no joke.

The “Late Show” host joined musical guests Rachael & Vilray to sing along on “Off Broadway,” an as-yet-unreleased track from the duo’s West of Broadway LP, arriving Aug. 1.

It begins with Vilray accompanying himself on jazzy guitar, singing a melancholic remembrance reinforced by the plaintive piano that follows. But when the saxophone kicks in along with the rest of the band, it sets the stage for Lake Street Dive vocalist Rachael Price and Colbert to get into the song’s good humor.

Go find a little reprieve/where no tourist tugs at your sleeve/asking you, ‘which way is Broadway?’ when he’s standing on Broadway/and Broadway’s got a sign on it/that he won’t believe, Rachael & Vilray & Colbert sing.

Sax, clarinet and trombone solos follow and the track exudes pure joy even when played by the house band on short rehearsal. And while Colbert probably couldn’t carry an album on his own, it’s notable that he can stay in key alongside two of the 21st century’s most talented singers.

This is a gem. Colbert is a gem. Rachael & Vilray are gems. Together, they sparkle.

Grade card: Rachael & Vilray with Stephen Colbert - “Off Broadway” (Colbert) - A+

Read Sound Bites’ previous West of Broadway coverage here.

7/30/25

[fidjiefidjie]

Belle matinée 🆕️ 🎅🎄💟

Rachael & Vilray 🎶 Just Me This Year

(I love a love song)

[nonesuchrecords]

I Love a Love Song!, the second album from Rachael & Vilray—Lake Street Dive singer/songwriter Rachael Price and composer, singer, and guitarist Vilray—is due January 13. You can pre-order now here. Nonesuch Store pre-orders include an exclusive autographed print in one of four colors selected at random.

The album features eleven new songs written by Vilray plus the 1930s classic "Goodnight My Love" written by Mack Gordon and Harry Revel. The album was produced, engineered, and mixed by Dan Knobler and features arrangements from Jacob Zimmerman.

[jacobrexzimmerman]

Rachael & Vilray present “Alone At Last,” a preview of their debut album coming out October 4th. Arrangement by me! I had such a great time recording this in NYC with my friends, enjoy.

Vocals: Rachael Price. Guitar: Vilray. Bass: Tony Scherr. Drums: Jason Burger. Clarinet: Jacob Rex Zimmerman. Tenor Sax: Mark Lopeman. Trumpet: Jon-Erik Kellso. Trombone: Joe McDonough.

[krispyweiss]

Song Review: Rachael & Vilray - “Love Comes Around” (the bridge studio version)

Transforming a rollicking big-band celebration into a pensive reflection for two, Rachael & Vilray show off their purity of sound on the bridge studio version of “Love Comes Around.”

Mononym composer Vilray accompanies on electric guitar his sometimes partner and full-time Lake Street Dive singer Rachael Price on this live-without-an-audience recasting. In doing so, the duo present their unadorned musicality and blend in a way their studio versions often obscure with arrangements including rhythm section and horns.

And that is not a bad or unwise thing to do. But occasional forays such as “Love Comes Around” (the bridge studio version) are a welcome reminder of what these music-making partners can pull off all by themselves.

Grade card: Rachael & Vilray - “Love Comes Around” (the bridge studio version) - A

10/3/25

[krispyweiss]

Song Review: Rachael & Vilray - “Forever Never Lasts” (the bridge studio version)

As they sing about getting together and pulling apart, Rachael & Vilray find themselves without support in the Bridge studio.

Sans band, the duo re-recorded “Forever Never Lasts.” And as on previous redos in the studio and their recent tour, demonstrate their voices and Vilray’s guitar can, indeed carry a tune.

This is both a literal and figurative truth.

Grade card: Rachael & Vilray - “Forever Never Lasts” (the bridge studio version) - A-

11/25/25

[krispyweiss]

Song Review: Rachael & Vilray - “Is it Jim?” (the bridge studio version)

Rachael & Vilray have a band. But Rachael & Vilray don’t need a band.

Appearing as a guitar-and-voice duo at Bridge Studio and performing “Is it Jim?,” the mononym composer/guitarist Vilray and Lake Street Drive singer Price make the most of minimalism on the stripped-down West of Broadway track that finds the narrator going to sleep with her human sweetheart and waking up with a tortoise.

Plodding and laborious/is it Jim?, Price sings on the contemporary jazz number that sounds as if it dates to the mid-20th century.

“Jim?” follows “Love Comes Around” from the duo’s Bridge sessions and underscores Rachael & Vilray (and “Jim”’s) ability to thrive in various environments.

Grade card: Rachael & Vilray - “Is it Jim?” (the bridge studio version) - A

10/31/25

[krispyweiss]

Song Review: Rachael & Vilray - “My Key to Gramercy Park”

This is your grandparents or great-grandparents’ music. But Rachael & Vilray’s “My Key to Gramercy Park” is just as much your music.

A contemporary Vilray composition rooted in a 1940s New York City jazz club, “Key” was written for Rachael Price, who narrates over a languid, balladic swing and solos on xylophone, muted trumpet and electric guitar.

Shade it seems to me/is all a body needs/men are like the trees/if you treat ’em right, they almost always leave, the Lake Street Dive frontwoman sings.

The track follows “Love Comes Around” from Rachel & Vilray’s third LP, West of Broadway, which arrives Aug. 1.

Grade card: Rachael & Vilray - “My Key to Gramercy Park” - A

7/11/25