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Rachel Chinouriri Bridges Then and Now on SNL UK's Stage

The London singer-songwriter brought both eras of her catalog to SNL UK's second season, mixing a preview of new material with her breakout hit "Never Need Me" as she counts down to October's album drop.

Rachel Chinouriri Bridges Then and Now on SNL UK's Stage

One track to tease the new album, one to look back and honor the song that got her noticed—Rachel Chinouriri used these two performances on the September 26 episode of Saturday Night Live UK to lay out exactly where she stands right now.

Hosted by Amelia Dimoldenberg, the second season's third episode featured Chinouriri as musical guest. She opened with her new single "One Song Away From Crying," released this past July, the lead track from her second album "I Think I Spoke Too Soon," set for release on October 16 via Parlophone/Atlas Artists. When announcing the album, she shared the inspiration behind the song: "'One Song Away From Crying' is about that moment at a night out when you're standing right at the edge, you know you should leave, but you still have to make the call." She added that the decision itself isn't really about that particular night, "it's more a reflection of an inner conflict about self-worth that you haven't fully faced yet."

For her second song, she went back to "Never Need Me" from her 2024 debut album "What A Devastating Turn Of Events." Originally released in January 2024, the track went on to become one of her breakout singles, landing at No. 20 on NME's list of the 50 Best Songs of 2024. The music video starred Florence Pugh, playing a friend helping Chinouriri through a breakup. Pugh has since shared how their collaboration started simply enough: she DM'd Chinouriri directly saying "thank you, you made my day," and Chinouriri replied that she was a fan too—"and that's how the idea came about for me to appear in her music video."

Just weeks before this SNL UK appearance, Chinouriri performed at Olivia Rodrigo's inaugural Daisy Chain Fields music festival, where she gave live previews of several unreleased tracks from "I Think I Spoke Too Soon." Later this year, she'll also join Gracie Abrams' "The Look At My Life Tour" as support for the North American arena run.

Her debut album "What A Devastating Turn Of Events" earned a four-star review from NME, with critics praising it as "a record of distinct personalities" that's "endearing from start to finish." It later landed at No. 10 on NME's 50 Best Albums of 2024 list.

Elsewhere in the same SNL UK episode, Oasis got dragged into a sketch about an Andy Burnham phishing scam, with the band recast as Russian spies. Earlier this season, CMAT joined host Jeff Goldblum for the premiere, while the previous episode's musical guest was Royal Blood with host Jamie Demetriou.

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