Premiere: New York's Raina Sokolov-Gonzalez Unveils Swirling Soul-Jazz Fusion "Better For You"

Image via Alice Plati

Growing up in Brooklyn, singer-songwriter Raina Sokolov-Gonzalez was raised on a steady diet of jazz, R&B and soul from an early age. The early introduction to these influences, along with her Latinx heritage, has played a pivotal role in shaping her sound and the rhythmic way she plays piano. It’s immediately audible in her music, particularly on her latest single, “Better For You”.

Officially released tomorrow, March 5, “Better For You” relays the experience of being objectified, but approaches the subject in a surprisingly ambiguous way. Not everything, she says, is cut and dry. “It also depicts the flip side of this, where we become or can become hooked on being the desired one; the way we come to need it, the way our identity becomes tied to this positioning. This is the ambiguity, the grey.”

“Better For You” is the first single to be released from her upcoming album, If They’re Mine, which is due spring 2021.