Scarlet Rae — a Los Angeles-born, New York City-based artist — started to unveil solo tracks in 2020. She quickly honed a formula that blends understated acoustic instrumentation with shoegaze gloom and whispery, effectshrouded vocals. For those uninitiated, her lowkey output may have seemed to come from nowhere. But she was already a seasoned musician, having performed in a myriad projects since her teens. Rae comes from a family of kindred spirits, who encouraged her to learn guitar as a young child. This led her to open for her father at bars around Los Angeles and attend concerts with her older sister. By high school, she was fronting the indie folk band Rose Dorn, who became favorites in the Los Angeles DIY circuit. The trio’s sepia tinted debut, Days You Were Leaving, was issued by Bar None Records in 2019.

In late 2024 she announced her signing to Bayonet Records (Mei Seimones, Beach Fossils, Being Dead), show released her first single “Bleu” which earned comparisons to Alex G from Stereogum, and saw praise from FADER who said Rae “navigates the tangled emotions with ease, and remarkable poise.”

No Heavy Goodbyes — Rae’s new EP for Bayonet Records — emerged as a rapid outpouring following an extended mental block. It stays true to her blueprint, but dials in craggier textures and sharpens storytelling. Its five cuts were tweaked over unplugged snippets on TikTok. When it came time to formalize the body of work, Rae fleshed out the songs as homespun demos in her Brooklyn apartment. She polished takes at sessions with producer Jordan Lawlor (M83, Oberhofer) in Los Angeles. Rae played the majority of the parts on No Heavy Goodbyes herself, citing Placebo as a source of inspiration.

Across No Heavy Goodbyes, Rae’s elven vocals are offset by razor-y walls of distortion. She pulls from acceptance, solitude, and grief — feelings that surfaced as a result of a difficult chapter marked by loss. “Bleu,” previously released in December 2024, hinted at the EP’s wrenching, but spellbinding quality. Above a thorny backdrop of resonant fretwork and synthesizer flourishes, Rae pays numb homage to her late sibling. Opener “A World Where She Left Me” grapples with the early stages of sorrow after death, Rae in one-sided conversation with the deceased and establishing a need for space amid an onslaught of attention. “The Reason I Could Sleep Forever” expresses a desire to disappear, without romanticizing the depletion fueling that temptation. A vulnerable tremor, No Heavy Goodbyes is unafraid to be painfully articulate — dusting raw themes in mesmerizing, spectral sonics.

1. A World Where She Left Me Out
2. The Reason I Could Sleep Forever
3. Bleu
4. Light Dose
5. Call Off The Day