#Scarlet Rae’s “Seems Like Forever” is a morbid lullaby

Scarlet Rae makes the sort of gloomy music that provies a perfect excuse to put your phone down and stare into space for a while (headphones in, of course). Today, she dropped “Seems Like Forever,” which follows 2020’s “Parachute” and last January’s “Going Through” as her third official single.

The 19 year-old, Brooklyn-based L.A. native is a formidable singer-songwriter, effortlessly embodying the moody ethos of early-aughts emo so many contemporary musicians aspire to capture. “Seems Like Forever” starts with with a quiet drum machine that leaves plenty of room for a deep synth bass and a heavily strummed acoustic guitar.

“Turned the lights off, I didn’t mean to fall asleep early again / Took my clothes off, this medication turns my nightmares into sweat,” Rae begins in a breathy alto, immediately pulling the listener into her dark world. “Time to go home, finish what’s left of the ketamine in my drawer,” she sings later, sounding truly hopeless. “I’m such an embarrassment.”

“I wrote ‘Seems Like Forever’ in December 2020 inside my old apartment during a snow storm,” she says. “I was going through probably the worst depression in my life, and feeling very isolated having just moved to Brooklyn with not a lot of motivation. I demoed it in my room, and I remember feeling so good after it was finished. I felt like my creative block had left and I was starting to express everything inside me through the next few songs.”

The new track comes with a video shot and directed by Surf Gang, effectively a cosign from the coolest teens in the city. Watch it below.