As a newly independent artist, global pop phenomenon RAYE is back with her brand new song, “Hard Out Here,” the singer’s first official release in over a year. It serves as her comeback single and a taste of what to expect from her forthcoming debut album, due later this year.

The single arrives weeks removed from the singer inking a deal with Los Angeles distribution and artist services company Human Re Sources, leaving Polydor Records—Interscope Record’s distributor in the United Kingdom. Her latest project under the record label was 2020’s Euphoria Sad Songs, although the singer assures that her forthcoming debut album will be what fans alike have been yearning for several years now.

“I was very angry and in a lot of pain when the bones of this song were solidified but I wrote this song because I needed this song. This song is about the bounce back, a rant reflecting on the last 8 years of my career, and me preparing to take control of my narrative, my art, and my life truly for the first time,” she says. “The initial version of this song was created years ago, when I was 19 years old, I wasn’t given permission to release this song, so it sat in a folder collecting dust. However the instrumental represented something so important to me, I think it felt like freedom.”

RAYE continues, “No less than a week after I parted ways with Polydor Records, I got on the microphone with rage in my chest and vented it all out in one sitting. This isn’t about chasing chart hits anymore, this is about finally being allowed to articulate my truth, and express myself fearlessly.”

Stream RAYE’s “Hard Out Here” below.