Soft strength. Quiet honesty. Winter feelings that don’t ask to be fixed.

January isn’t loud.
It doesn’t sparkle.
It doesn’t reinvent itself overnight.

January listens.

That’s why my January muse is Rachel Chinouriri.

Not because she’s trending the hardest.
Not because she’s trying to be iconic.
But because her music understands the emotional aftermath — the part of the year where the adrenaline wears off and you’re left alone with what’s real.

A Riffhaus Muse, Defined

At Riffhaus, I don’t pick muses for aesthetics alone.

I pick women who occupy a feeling so fully that you can design from the inside out.

Rachel Chinouriri writes music the way some people keep journals they never intend to publish.
Her songs feel like internal conversations that accidentally found a melody.

They don’t posture.
They don’t seduce.
They admit.

And that kind of honesty is rare.

Inside Rachel Chinouriri’s Head

Rachel’s songwriting lives in the space between knowing and not knowing.

Her lyrics often feel mid-thought — as if she’s catching herself in the act of feeling something too much and deciding to stay with it instead of shutting it down.

She sings about:

• wanting reassurance and hating herself for needing it

• loving deeply without romantic illusions

• being strong without being hardened

• staying emotionally open in a world that rewards detachment

There’s no drama for drama’s sake here.
No grand declarations.

Just emotional accuracy.

Rachel doesn’t turn sadness into spectacle.
She treats it like information.

A Short Bio (For Context, Not Reduction)

Rachel Chinouriri is a London-based indie pop singer-songwriter whose music blends vulnerability, restraint, and emotional clarity. Her work explores love, mental health, self-worth, and the quiet negotiations we make with ourselves in relationships.

Her career has unfolded slowly and deliberately — through EPs, patient songwriting, and a growing audience that values intimacy over hype. She isn’t chasing reinvention. She’s refining truth.

And you can hear that in every song.

How to Experience Rachel Chinouriri

(A Gentle Entry Guide)

Don’t shuffle.
Don’t skip.
Don’t multitask too hard.

Start Here: The Emotional Introduction

These songs open the door:

• “So My Darling” – start here. Always.

• “All I Ever Asked” – about vulnerability that feels exposed rather than romantic

• “The Hills” – memory as atmosphere, not nostalgia

👉 Best experienced at night or on a long walk.

Go Deeper: Patterns & Preoccupations

Once her emotional language clicks, move on to:

• “Never Need Me” – strength that sounds tired, not triumphant

• “My Everything” – attachment without fantasy

• “Cold Call” – anxiety rendered gently, without panic

This is where you start to recognize her recurring questions:
Am I too much? Am I enough? Why do I still care?

Listen in Full: Albums as Chapters

If you want the full arc, listen front to back:

• Four° in Winter — cohesive, intimate, and seasonally perfect

• What a Devastating Turn of Events — heartbreak, growth, and emotional recalibration without tidy resolution

Treat these like essays, not playlists.

What to Read & Watch

Rachel is as thoughtful in conversation as she is in her music.

If you want to understand her more deeply:

• Look for long-form interviews where she talks about songwriting as emotional processing

• Watch seated video interviews, not red carpets — she opens up in calm spaces

• Read pieces that explore mental health and emotional honesty in indie pop

Notice how often she pauses before answering.
She thinks before she speaks.

That restraint is part of her artistry.

Why Rachel Chinouriri Is My January Muse

January doesn’t need motivation.
It needs recognition.

Recognition of:

• what you carried through last year

• what you didn’t get to process yet

• what still feels unresolved

Rachel Chinouriri understands that you don’t need to fix a feeling to honor it.
You just need to tell the truth about where you are.

This January riff is built around:

• emotional honesty without performance

• softness as strength

• quiet resilience

• staying open in the cold

Not reinvention.
Just awareness.