There are nights when I want absolutely nothing from a dance song except permission to be hot, a little stupid and nowhere near my fucking problems. Skip the emotional autopsy and give me something bright enough to make the dance floor feel mandatory. Rick Rath’s ‘Say My Name’ with Lyrae scratches that itch immediately. The track reaches back toward the sugary rush of ’90s Euro-pop, then cleans the edges up for a modern club floor where somebody is definitely flirting harder after the second drink. It feels like the musical version of deciding the evening is going well enough to stop checking the time.
Rick keeps the groove moving at 123 BPM, which gives ‘Say My Name’ enough bounce to feel energetic without turning the whole thing into cardio. There is a glossy throwback quality in the synth work, and the production knows when to stay out of Lyrae’s way. Her vocal brings the personality. Bright and flirtatious, she rides over the track with the kind of easy confidence that makes the title stick before the song is even finished. Rick builds around that voice instead of burying it under club tricks, and the result feels made for the moment a dance floor finally fills up and everybody collectively stops pretending they came out to behave and starts having some actual shit happen.
Lyrae also gives Rick something his production clearly likes working around. ‘Say My Name’ is their second release together this year after ‘Broken Promises,’ and there is already a natural chemistry between her pop instincts and his dance background. This time the mood is lighter and much more interested in making you smile. That suits her. She sounds comfortable enough inside the track that the whole thing comes off playful instead of trying too fucking hard to manufacture a big club moment. Sometimes the hottest thing a dance record can do is trust the groove and let the vocalist flirt.
Rick Rath has been around electronic music long enough to remember when ’90s dance music was current instead of nostalgic. The Canadian producer started experimenting with synths and DJing young and built an early career that earned Gold and Platinum recognition before stepping away from releasing music for more than two decades. Technology became the other side of his career, including work around digital music distribution and entertainment systems, before he returned to putting music out again in 2024. That history makes the Euro-pop pull on ‘Say My Name’ feel pretty fucking natural. He is revisiting sounds he actually lived through and giving them enough polish to work now.
By the end, I am happily uninterested in finding some hidden emotional wound underneath all of this. ‘Say My Name’ wants the windows down and the volume up, with Lyrae sounding like she already knows somebody across the room is paying attention. Rick gives her a groove built for exactly that kind of trouble. Some songs need to ruin your week. This one would rather improve your Friday night, and frankly, my ass appreciates the break.
