Ora inspiring: Rita on vulnerability, love and new music

The British singer’s latest album came “very naturally”. And she says her “second home” where she found love — Australia — had a lot to do with it.

Rita Ora at a launch event in Sydney, left, and taking to the stage during the week for a performance as part of London Pride. Pictures:

Hungover the day after her wedding, Rita Ora did what she does best – she sang with emotion, the result being the title track for her new album, You & I.

“I was just really vulnerable, not afraid but more very much in tune with my emotions,” Ora tells Insider.

“I was very productive and didn’t feel like I wanted to crawl up in a hole and die. I went into the studio with a croaky husky voice because I was screaming the night before.

“I had to go in because I was super fresh emotionally. I wanted to make the ultimate wedding song with all of the best love songs I’ve ever known.

“It felt like it was the easiest song I did, it was just an hours work to be honest. It was super quick and natural, just on the piano.”

Rita Ora ahead of the release of her much-anticipated new album.

The superstar British singer sat down with Insider while in Australia filming The Voice, on which she has been a coach and mentor for several years.

Australia has a special place in Ora’s heart. It is her second home.

Taika Waititi and Rita Ora at her private album launch in Sydney. Picture: Max Mason-Hubers

She spends many months of the year in Sydney, and husband Taika Waititi has a home in New Zealand. And there’s also her life of family and friends in the UK.

“For the past three years, my life has changed drastically because of Australia and it just holds a really close place in my heart,” she said.

“I found love. I found my routine with my physicality. I feel super kind of healthier here and just at ease. I have found a safety net in a place that I am not from, which is just so special.”

Ora’s third studio album is out now and includes the hit singles You Only Love Me and Don’t Think Twice.

KEITH URBAN COLLABORATION

There’s also her radio hit: as Ora has put her spin on Fatboy Slim’s Praising You.

The album features just 12 tracks in total, although the deluxe edition will include two more. She has recorded with her former Voice Australia colleague, Keith Urban, the pair collaborating on a song titled Shape Of Me.

“I just did that so it actually didn’t make the album because the Masters are done, but it will make the deluxe edition. It is so f***ing good. With Keith, it was a natural, organic thing,” she said.

Ora and Urban of course became mates when they worked together on The Voice.

Keith Urban and Rita Ora in coach mode on The Voice Australia. Picture: Supplied

“I really started to get to know his daughters and his wife (Nicole Kidman) and just seeing all the feminine presence. Shape Of Me was written about my mum, who is a huge feminine presence in my life and I just felt like verbally and narratively, Keith would really relate to that. It also has this country twang so it made sense.”

Of the album more generally, she continued: “I wanted this album to feel super intimate. The purpose of this album was to reset my artistry. I wasn’t thinking what is going to get me a number one, I just wanted to make a story and it felt like my journal was becoming a singalong. That’s what this album is, it is like a diary that turned into a singalong.”

You could say it is this raw honesty that has been somewhat of a trademark for Ora since she first broke through more than a decade ago with hits including Hot Right Now, R.I.P. and How We Do (Party).

She has never shied away from sharing her most personal moments with fans.

“I think that I’ve been sharing a lot of myself since the beginning, even if it isn’t musically, I was always very open with my fans I like to think,” she said. “I was always just myself. And so I just felt like I needed to connect my music to that personality.”

Rita Ora and Taika Waititi on the red carpet. Picture: Getty Images for Disney

Ora married her acclaimed Hollywood director partner last year. They kept the nuptials low key.

She wore a vintage Yves Saint Laurent wedding dress in the video clip for the single, You Only Love Me.

Of the track, You & I, she explained: “Obviously I think people thought You & I references me and Taika but it’s actually bigger than that. It is about me and the listener. I wanted this album to feel like you are really close to me. You and I, you only say that to people you know or people you are close to and so I wanted it to feel like it was a message to whoever was listening to the album.”
Overall, the album is about the woman Ora is today. It is also about her journey here.

“How I’ve grown from the beginning until now,” she said. “There are so many eye opening moments to this album. If you didn't know me then, you are going to know me after listening to this album.”

LAYING IT ON THE LINE

Giving so much of herself personally to her music and fans, it begs the question – how does she manage to keep something for herself?

“Well, you don’t really,” she said. “You have to be willing to give it all, that is what your job is as an artist I believe. If you don't want to give it all, you are going to get caught out, people will see that there’s something you’re hiding. You want your fans to trust you. I want my fans to feel like, she really has laid it all out on the line, whether it is good or bad, at least she is being honest and being and admitting to her mistakes and just showing up.

She added: “That is what this album is about, it’s about longevity and resilience, being able to reconnect with your fans because at some point in your career you’ve got to touch base.

It was a freeing feeling for Ora not to be chasing chart success.

“I for the first time didn’t have the pressure on me. I mean, look at Kylie Minogue right now, she has got this amazing song that is so deserved, it is about building your discography and your story.”

— Ora’s album, You & I, is out now. The new season of The Voice Australia will air on Seven later this year.

Originally published as Ora inspiring: Rita on vulnerability, love and new music