Atlanta-based dream pop artist Sarah Rae is best known for her fluid vocals, imaginative themes, and mesmerizing soundscapes that blend seamlessly together to create an immersive, delicate, another place and time. Crimson Rose, as the artist describes, “is a nostalgic-sounding spin on my usual dream pop/shoegaze sound where I take a vintage jab at the sound of losing relationships, and letting go of toxic situations. Crimson Rose was composed to take a very Kate Bush sound, and really showcase a vocal range and epic sound that encapsulates the feeling of the lyrics. Layering in dissonance, and suspended harmonies as I do in my music, I wanted to have a “dragging” feeling behind every note – even the epic crescendos.”
“Going for retrowave/synthpop, and using dissonance to weave in and out of the airy chords, I wanted to bring the “bittersweet” feeling of letting go to this tune, while really flexing my songbird muscles by showcasing the vocal range that is written to pull you in to feel the ups and downs that is human interaction, to me.” – Sarah Rae
Sarah Rae is an independent musician based out of Atlanta, The music behind Sarah Rae is driven by a plethora of sounds combining dream pop, nerve pop, and pop punk to create soulful music, with clarity that brings you both dissonance, and harmony. She seeks to balance both the ability to breathe life in to the listener with major progression, but also make them think with downward dissonance to create a clash the truly strikes your nerve. She consistently writes about the expressions of life, and how she has managed to overcome the trials, and tribulations it has thrown at her. She was classically trained vocally, as well as classically trained on the piano starting at the age of 8. “Dancing Sun” was her first produced single that begged the listener to question their emotions around the tune. Melodic dance-inducing chords, overlayed by dissonanced vocals will really strike certain nerves, but don’t worry — you’ll be dancing regardless. “Blueberry Heart” was unofficially her first original composition. Written in 2017 as a piano composition, she updated the jam as a “pop ballad”, and produced it out of her home. This was where she realized how enticing minor vocals over major progression is, and started her journey down the road of experimentation, and that dream pop/shoegaze sound you hear in recent releases.
“Brand New Eyes” – her first EP album – shoves you in to overdrive to not only tug on your heartstrings about how we all have had to deal with the global pandemic of 2020, but what exactly you did about it. Fierce pop-punk sounds come out of this album, where she embodies her spirit from her small college band in her early 20s. Fun, fast poppy, punk movement meets her newly found love for slower, nerve striking vocals. Following that lead, Blooming Mess, her newest single coming out on May 5th, is heavy in post punk sounds, and heavy in dissonance to smash the two together to really tell the story of her past and future coming together in to a beautiful union. As the summer approaches, she prepares to hit you with another shoegaze, sunshine-like disposition with her newest single “Poison Ivy” releasing in June! Looking further down the road, the post punk story telling of her past will likely begin to turn soft again as she embraces the love she found in softer vocals over somewhat energetic dream pop sounds. You’ll have to follow along this beautiful, wacky journey with me to find out!
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