Rachel Chinouriri performed ‘One Song Away From Crying’ and ‘Never Need Me’ on Saturday Night Live UK last night (September 26) – watch the latter performance below.
The London singer-songwriter served as musical guest on the third episode of the second series of SNL UK, which was hosted by Amelia Dimoldenberg.
For her first performance, Chinouriri looked ahead to her forthcoming second album ‘I Think I Spoke Too Soon’ with ‘One Song Away From Crying’. The track was released in July as the first taste of the record, which arrives on October 16 via Parlophone/Atlas Artists.
“‘One Song Away From Crying’ is about the precipice of a night out where you know you need to leave and have to make a decision,” she said when announcing the album.
“It’s a deeper decision because it’s less about the night itself but more about a reflection of a deeper internal conflict with your self value that you haven’t looked at yet.”
The record follows Chinouriri’s acclaimed 2024 debut ‘What A Devastating Turn Of Events’, and for her second SNL UK performance, she went back to that debut for ‘Never Need Me’.
Originally released in January 2024, the song became one of Chinouriri’s breakthrough singles and was later ranked at Number 20 on NME’s 50 best songs of 2024.
Its music video famously starred Florence Pugh, who played a friend helping Chinouriri through a break-up. Pugh later explained that the collaboration came about after she contacted the singer directly to tell her how much she enjoyed her music.
“I just said, ‘Thank you for making my day today’ and then she replied and said she was also a fan,” the actor recalled. “Then this idea came that I was in her music video.”
Chinouriri’s SNL UK slot comes just weeks after she performed at Olivia Rodrigo’s inaugural Daisy Chain Fields festival in California, where she also previewed unreleased material from ‘I Think I Spoke Too Soon’.
Later this year, Chinouriri will join Gracie Abrams for a run of North American arena dates on her ‘The Look At My Life Tour’.
Her first album, ‘What A Devastating Turn Of Events’, was awarded four stars by NME, with the review praising its “characterful tunes” and describing it as “consistently charming”. The record later landed at Number 10 on NME’s 50 best albums of 2024.
Last night’s Saturday Night Live UK also saw the show turn Oasis into Russian spies in an Andy Burnham phishing scam sketch.
The second season launched earlier this month with CMAT performing alongside host Jeff Goldblum, before Royal Blood served as musical guests for last week’s episode hosted by Jamie Demetriou.