Review: Rita Ora – Shine Ya Light

Rita Ora is to release her fourth single Shine Ya Light at the beginning of next month, but is it destined for chart-topping success?

Hannah Crompton

Jay-Z’s protégé Rita Ora has had huge success since the release of DJ Fresh’s number one single Hot Right Now, which she featured on.

The Kosovo beauty then landed a second number one single with her first solo record R.I.P. featuring London-rapper Tinie Tempah. Ora scored third-time-lucky with How We Do (Party), which went to number one in the summer. But will the Roc Nation singer nab the charts’ top position again with her fourth single Shine Ya Light?

The song features slow dubstep beats, which ease the listener into a poppy-sounding bridge. However it is the rocky and gritty chorus where Rita roars into action, which is then oddly followed by a reggae-esque verse.

This is distinctive by the rhythmic accents on the off-beats, which in this case are played by a piano, just before she sings “And we don’t give up till we run out of desire”. Trust me; you will know what I mean when you hear it. You will find yourself ‘jamming’ and winding your hips to the sound.

Reggae is a genre that Rita has not delved into yet, but if this song is anything to go by, it could be a good path for her to go down in the future.

I fear that this song will not do as well as her previous tracks because it sounds so different and cannot be categorised into one genre of music. 

Hot Right Now was a D&B tune, R.I.P. was hip-hop and How We Do (Party) was blatant pop, but Shine Ya Light is a mixed bag.

I think if you know Rita Ora’s music already, then you will like it, but if you are new to her music, I would recommend listening to Roc The Life or Radioactive (which for me are the best tunes on her debut LP).

The singer has released a trailer of the music video to Shine Ya Light, which she recorded in her hometown Pristina, on her official YouTube VEVO profile.

Her MTV Live Session performance of Shine Ya Light is worth a watch too as she is a very good live performer, far better than Rihanna (but let us leave it at that).

Rita Ora’s album Ora is out now and Shine Ya Light is out November 4. Check them out.