LATE AGAIN - CLEARLY IT’S ALL STAGED [EP]

New York’s Late Again releases his highly anticipated independent EP, Clearly It’s All Staged. Leading the project is the track “Chick’n Tenders,” a witty and tender meditation on unrequited love. The song is driven by yearning guitars and delicate indie textures, brought to life through a kaleidoscope-inspired and psychedelia-infused visual creating a dreamlike haze where sweetness and sorrow intertwine. Showcasing Late Again’s signature blend of clever wordplay, emotional depth, and inventive indie production.

“Chick'n Tenders is an ironic uplifting love song written to chicken tenders. It's also a song about unrequited human love while being an expat who's feeling like he doesn't belong anywhere on a gloomy Sunday evening. Mostly, it's an ode to fried chicken though.” He adds, “I think it's funny how chicken tenders taste exactly the same no matter where you are in the world. And how sometimes that's all you need to feel at home for a second when nothing else can fill that void.”

Following a string of singles that include the experimental yet intimate “Koolbloom” (feat. Heal Mura), the optimistic “Easy On Myself”, the sharp, cynical “Ick?”, and the reflective mushroom trip-influenced “Sunrise/Sunset”; “Chick’n Tenders” arrives as both bookend and entry point into Clearly It’s All Staged. Across its six tracks, the project explores longing, dislocation, and self-awareness. Navigating rejection and belonging in all their forms—romantic, platonic, and professional—through a hazy blend of wit, ethereal guitars, groovy beats, haunting melodies, jazz flourishes, and warm vocal harmonies. Recorded in his Greenpoint bedroom and co-produced by Heal Mura, the EP features contributions from Ella Walton, Nathan Dies, and saxophonist Jared Yee.

Late Again is the alter ego of Brazilian-born, Brooklyn-based artist and creative Rafael Melo, a restless multi-hyphenate whose work exists in the space between worlds. Raised in a small beach town on the coast of São Paulo—without ever learning to surf—Melo grew up on Shania Twain mixtapes in his father’s car alongside his best friend’s Brazilian psychedelia vinyls. Sonically, Late Again pulls from North American indie pop, obscure Brazilian bossa nova, dreamlike film soundscapes, and Japanese ’80s grooves, citing Gorillaz, Caetano Veloso, Ryuichi Sakamoto, and contemporary indie pop as touchstones. Last year, he collaborated with Brazilian jazz legend Arthur Verocai (Tyler, The Creator, BADBADNOTGOOD, Hiatus Kaiyote, Gal Costa) on “People Pleasers.”

Before Late Again reached over a million Spotify listeners in the past year, Rafael had built a career spanning award-winning films, a Brazilian indie band that toured across his home country, a viral indie game with a childhood friend (Sad Socket Studios, developer of 9 Kings and other indie projects), and Guinness World Record–breaking ad campaigns. Deciding to fully pursue music in 2024, he released his debut projects as Late Again: Migraine Fever Dream and Absolutely Almost Sure, which earned praise from Billboard, Galore, Ladygunn, Earmilk, and more, while selling out East Coast shows.

With Clearly It’s All Staged, Late Again sharpens his balance of wit, melancholy, and dreamlike textures. For anyone navigating between places, languages, or identities, the EP offers a space to laugh, cry, and perhaps dance along the way–a reminder that the search for connection is always worth staging, and that it’s never too late to find a place to belong and start again.