Late Again Shares New Single ALL MY EXES MOVED TO THE COUNTRYSIDE
The dream-pop project also released the woozy track TO STOP THE TIME with an accompanying video.
Late Again, the recording alias of Brazilian-born, Brooklyn-based musician Rafael Melo, is set to release his new EP I Dreamt I Was Awake this Friday, September 4. His most ambitious body of work yet, the EP showcases his observational writing style paired with traditional Brazilian styles and modern dream-pop textures. This is represented with new single and opening track 'To Stop The Time.' Raw, groovy and meditative, the lyrics follow two people who grow apart and no longer fit into each other's worlds - even when, in an ideal version of things, everything makes sense.
The track follows previous singles 'All My Exes Moved to the Countryside,' 'Crazy or Stupid' and 'If You Have A Bridge (I'm Buying),' which is accompanied by a music video of a surreal bike ride across all five boroughs of New York City.
In the video for 'To Stop The Time,' directed by Henrique Barretto, Gabriel Rollinos, and Melo, Late Again sways in brightly saturated fields and farmlands, serenading a crowd of barnyard cows and chickens.
With I Dreamt I Was Awake, a newfound confidence emerges as Late Again doubles down on his witty and astute writing style. Across six intricately structured tracks, the EP explores the gap between the life you imagine and the one you're actually living, and the strange ways people learn to make peace with that distance. Self-aware, sometimes funny, and always subtly critical, the songs fluctuate between tenderness and irony, minimalism and chaos, and the hyper-personal and universal.
Recorded at Studio G (Brooklyn) and Evil Twin (São Paulo), the EP features drums from Thiago Dom (Kimbra, Duda Beat), bass from John Lisi (Twin Brother, John Roseboro), engineering from Nelson Espinal (Mdou Moctar, YHWH Nailgun, Sessa), and mixing from Heal Mura, Melo's long-term Brazilian collaborator.
Born and raised on the coast of São Paulo, Late Again sonically sits at the intersection of North American indie pop and obscure Brazilian bossa nova references, with a hint of dreamlike film soundscapes and Japanese 80s grooves. Since his debut in April 2024, he's picked up support from Billboard, Remezcla, Northern Transmissions, JazzTimes, Galore, Grimy Goods, TrebleZine and more, and collaborated with creative trailblazers including Brazilian jazz maestro Arthur Verocai (BADBADNOTGOOD, MF Doom, Gal Costa) and experimental visual artist Gabriel Rollinos.
With a multi-hyphenate career spanning award-winning films and bestselling indie video games, Rafael Melo's work through Late Again expands the boundaries of his music beyond sound itself, in an effort to tell his stories in whatever medium it takes.
Tracklist
1. To Stop The Time
2. If You Have A Bridge (I'm Buying)
3. Crazy or Stupid
4. My Sore Throat
5. All My Exes Moved to the Countryside
6. Every Time I Take Sudafed
Photo Credit: Henrique Barreto | Hi-Res Download
Photo Credit: Henrique Barreto | Hi-Res Download