Scarlet Rae – ‘No Heavy Goodbyes’ Review

What does Scarlet Rae sound like?

Acoustic alternative rock that’s plugged into the shoegaze realm.

The review of ‘No Heavy Goodbyes’ by Scarlet Rae

Los Angeles-born, New York City-based artist Scarlet Rae loves to dabble with acoustic instrumentation that has been doused in shoegaze gloom. It allows her music to switch from the intimate to the dramatic in a heartbeat, and her new EP ‘No Heavy Goodbyes’ is an exemplar of this. Scarlet cites Placebo as an influence for this release and I can hear and see the parallels.

‘No Heavy Goodbyes’ deals with grief and loss, and for Scarlet, this comes from the loss of her sibling. The five tracks on the EP deal with different stages of grief and come at loss from different perspectives. ‘A World Where She Left Me Out’ is a one-way conversation with the departed about being left behind and needing space to process things. Sonically, this comes from acoustic guitar riffs that are plugged into a muddy wall of noise for the choruses. Watery guitar embellishments make things sound fractured and distorted, whilst Scarlet Rae’s pixie-like vocals let the gut punches hit softly. ‘The Reason I Could Sleep Forever’ turns the guitars into electric razor sizzles over sludgy drum loops like the best alt-pop of the late 90s. Think of a heavier, darker, more indie version of The Cardigans or anything from Melanie Garside’s many musical projects and you are in the right headspace. The lyrics here talk of the allure of wishing to die, too. It’s a raw and numbing track, but also one that is incredibly catchy.

‘Bleu’ adds in dissonant synths like radios tuning into your brainwaves that crackle and distort the acoustic-based song. Rae keeps things mellow, layering vocal snippets from different recordings in the muddy mix. ‘Bleu’, and the following track ‘Light Dose’ remind me of a lost 90s band called Transister. Both feature razzled guitars and soft baby vocals that straddle cute and numb equally. ‘Light Dose’ switches things up with a chorus piano running through the guitar effects. It took me a few listens to realise the piano wasn’t plugged through a guitar amp, as they share the same ear space. It totally works as a grungy piano-rock sound, though and makes the track stand out. The closing song ‘Call Off The Day’ is the heaviest and most gazed of the tracks. Featuring both live and programmed drums and blaring guitars ala Placebo’s ‘Without You I’m Nothing’ album, it hits all the right notes for alternative emo rock.

Fuzzed, gazed, and vulnerable. Scarlet Rae is able to hide her pain in the earworms and soft vocal delivery, but the subjects she speaks of cut deep. I love its somewhat retro alt-rock sounds with old school drum machines and a polished bedroom rock sound. The EP has the rawness of a demo and the production quality of a studio recording, giving listeners the best of both worlds. It also gives us the best (to date) of Scarlet Rae. Excellent.

Recommended track: The Reason I Could Sleep Forever

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