RAYE’s Car Was Stolen with Lyrics for Her Upcoming Second Album Inside: ‘Really F—ing Personal S—‘ (Exclusive)

Fans will have to wait a little while for RAYE’s second album.

Between Grammy nominations and a performance at the 2025 Oscars, the British singer-songwriter’s been in the midst of a major career moment — but whether she’ll release the follow-up to her 2023 debut album, My 21st Century Blues, this year is still to be determined.

“My car was stolen,” RAYE tells PEOPLE, noting that lots of “heartfelt stuff” was inside, including the lyrics for her next project, as she first revealed in October. “There was a big giant book that says ‘RAYE’s Second Album’ on the front of it with loads of thoughts, loads of really f—ing personal s—.”

“I hope whoever stole the car just took the stuff and threw it in the bin ’cause I don’t want people reading that,” declares the “Escapism” artist. “It’s just really personal, deep stuff. But I’ve got to the point where I’m kind of over it now and just moving on.”

Since releasing My 21st Century Blues, RAYE’s been quite busy on tour with artists like Taylor Swift, SZA, Lewis Capaldi and Kali Uchis, plus headlining her own shows. She recently dropped “Born Again,” a collaboration with LISA and Doja Cat, with whom she also performed a tribute to James Bond theme songs at the 2025 Oscars earlier this month.

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Understandably, at the time of this interview in January, she still has quite a bit of work to do before the second album will be ready — especially after losing much of its first iteration to a thief. Nonetheless, she’s pushing forward.

“My thought going through my head is, ‘Time to write.’ I’m so excited to be a writer again,” says RAYE, who’s scheduled to perform at various global festivals throughout the summer but will find time to work on her art.

“I want to take a step back and just go into a little writing bubble again. Wear t-shirts and comfy jeans,” she explains. “I want to start to begin to chip away at putting another body of work together. and I don’t know how long it’s going to take me. I don’t know where I’m at. I have little ideas and thoughts and stuff like that, but it’s very early days.”