RACHEL GRAE'S “SAFE WITH ME” IS A BALLAD FOR THE GIRL SHE USED TO BE

Pop powerhouse Rachel Grae gets vulnerable on her latest single “Safe With Me”

words maisie jane daniels

There’s a version of you that bends, shrinks, softens, all in the name of keeping the peace. Rachel Grae knows her well. In Safe With Me, her latest single and emotional gut-punch of a piano ballad, she sings straight from the ache of people-pleasing and self-abandonment. It’s raw, direct, and written from the perspective of the girl she once was - and the one still learning when to stop saying yes.

Off the back of Raised by a Woman and ahead of her Lollapalooza debut alongside Olivia Rodrigo and Sabrina Carpenter, Rachel is entering her own era of clarity: full voice, no filter. Whether she’s celebrating softness or putting it under a microscope, her songs speak to the version of us still trying to take up space, without apologising.

In this interview, we talk honesty, heartbreak, songwriting for your past and future self, and why “keeping the peace” can sometimes come at the cost of your own.

Maisie Daniels: Hey Rachel, welcome to F Word mag! Is NYC as hot as London right now?!

Rachel Grae: Hey! NYC has been going through a heat wave SO I may have you beat on this one. 

MD: What’s bringing you the most joy to your days lately? 

RG: Having a consistent routine has been bringing me the most joy as of recent! I’ve been traveling a bunch lately, so it’s been nice to sit in one place and live in my own space for a bit.

MD: Let’s get stuck in with your latest single “Safe With Me”. It feels like a letter from the version of you that finally had enough. Where were you emotionally when writing it - and how did that honesty shape the song?

RG: This was truly one of the most vulnerable writing sessions I’ve had in my entire life. I wrote this song about a situation that I’ve never spoken about and still tend to shy away from, but the two guys that I wrote this song with, Dave Gibson and Joe Janiak, made such a safe space for me to let all my emotions out. I built a friendship and trust with them that changed my way of writing completely. The overarching theme of this song is the feeling of allowing someone to take advantage of your emotions, and hurting yourself in the process. I wrote this from the perspective of my younger self who definitely could’ve used it at several points in her life.

MD: You sing about people-pleasing in a way that’s painfully specific. When did you first realise that tendency was costing you something - creatively, emotionally, or even in relationships?

RG: For my whole life, my parents told me that having a big heart is one of my best qualities and to never lose that no matter who comes in and tries to take it. I’ve always been someone who would rather see everyone else happy before focusing on myself, but it’s cost me something in every single one of those situations – it cost my peace for the most part. If all you're doing is living for other people, you’re eventually going to start forgetting who you really are and what you want. 

MD: This track leans more ballad than banger. What made you strip it back and lead with the piano, vocally exposed like that?

RG: I felt exposed while singing it and writing it, so matching production to the genuine emotion felt like the right direction. 

MD: For all the people-pleasers of the world, what advice can you give to someone who’s trying to stop abandoning themselves just to make others comfortable?

RG: If all you do is cater to everyone else’s happiness, you will lose yours in the process. I’ve learned that being my true self actually makes people around me happy. This quote summarizes it perfectly: “I was taught that keeping quiet kept the peace, until I realized whose peace I was keeping.”

MD: You’ve racked up nearly half a billion streams and a massive TikTok following! How do you stay grounded when your audience keeps growing?

RG: I remember what I’m doing it for! I write music to allow people to feel less alone, to know it’s OKAY to feel every emotion, and to normalize being dramatic, sad, mad, etc. The people following me are the reason I get to do what I do… there is nothing more grounding than that, and I’m very grateful for it.

MD: “Safe With Me” and “Raised by a Woman” are wildly different sonically, but both carry this strong feminine undercurrent. Is that something you think about intentionally - crafting music that holds space for women to feel seen?

RG: 100% – I think every woman should feel empowered and confident in who they are! A lot of my new music has to do with taking power back. I try to stay authentic in how a song makes me feel and use that to guide the sound of the track. Raised By a Woman feels like a celebration vs Safe with Me, which makes me feel exposed and vulnerable. 

MD: You're hitting the stage at Lollapalooza with some serious heavyweights such as Olivia Rodrigo, Sabrina Carpenter, and Gracie Abrams. What does that moment mean to you and is there a certain song you can't wait to perform live there?

RG: I feel honored to share the weekend with such incredible artists that I love and look up to! It’s always been a dream of mine to be part of a music festival like Lollapalooza – HUGE bucket lister.  I’m so excited to sing my new songs from this upcoming project that I’ve been working so hard on. It’s one thing writing it, but it’s another thing performing it in front of people who share a similar mindset.

MD: Who are you most excited to catch live at the festival?

RG: I’m very excited to see Doechii. I’m very inspired by her creativity and her come-up story. I absolutely love her last album and I think she’s so deserving of all the success that she has! 

MD: Turned Into Me, your sophomore studio album’s out later this year - exciting! Without giving too much away, what themes or sounds are we going to hear that we haven’t before from you?

RG: You’re gonna hear more soulful elements in this next coming album, a more mature sound, a conceptual body of work, and a lot of growth in who I am as a person! 

MD: What version of yourself are you writing for right now - the past you, the present one, or someone you’re trying to become?

RG: Funny enough, I’m writing for past me AND future me at the same time. I think I’ve accidentally manifested a lot of things through my music, and I’m trying to do that more! Act like who you want to be and you’ll eventually become that. 

MD: Finally, this is F Word magazine so we have to ask - what’s your favourite F Word!?

RG: FUTURE!! There’s much I'm excited for, and I can’t wait to share it with all of you :)

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