Late Again is what happens when you’ve spent most of your life between worlds. Rafael Melo, the Brazilian artist now based in Brooklyn, has bounced between languages, countries, and entire careers. Advertising, filmmaking, world-building, even Brazil’s biggest indie video game. Music was always there, waiting.
That restless energy runs through Clearly It’s All Staged, his new six-track EP. Bedroom-recorded, dreamy, messy in the best way. He writes about belonging and feeling lost with equal parts humour and weight, the kind of lyrics that make you grin right before they gut you. One track unpacks existential dread, another’s dedicated to chicken tenders and somehow makes you feel something.
Late Again lives in the limbo on purpose. That’s where his voice clicks, honest, a bit odd, always reaching. For this 18 Questions feature, we caught him in that space between sincerity and side quests, exploring the thoughts, habits, and ideas that quietly shape the world of Late Again.
1. Where does your mind usually go when you first wake up?
It stares into a bottomless void for 15 minutes. I consider myself a pretty happy guy, but for those 15 minutes… there’s just the void, man.
2. What’s a small thing that instantly makes you feel grounded?
Driving alone on an empty highway with a dad song blasting through the speakers.
3. When do you feel most like yourself?
When I accidentally find myself in a completely random side quest that gives me no reward other than the journey itself.
4. What’s something you believed about yourself five years ago that you no longer think is true?
You do need therapy, dude.
5. What’s the most important thing you’ve learned about being creative for a living?
It’s ok to admit something you made is the best you could’ve done. I think people downplay their work as a defense mechanism to protect their preconceived notion of their own potential. But you can just chill, you know. The best you can do is good enough.
6. What’s a comfort film, song, or game you keep returning to?
I’ll pick a song: “Sparkle” by Tatsuro Yamashita. I started learning Japanese just to sing along. It’s one of those songs that makes you want to dance and cry at the same time.
7. What’s one habit you’d love to break and one you’d love to keep?
I really need to start waking up earlier. But I really like being super productive at 2 a.m.
8. When do ideas hit you the hardest: chaos, quiet, or somewhere in between?
Quiet outside. Internal chaos.
9. What’s a compliment you still think about?
The other day a pink-haired lady on the subway said she really liked my hat. I was having a shitty day, and it reminded me how a tiny interaction with a stranger can lift your spirits. Besides, it was my favourite hat.
10. What’s something you want people to feel when they encounter anything you make?
“Ok, I got it now.”
11. You’ve lived between countries, cultures, and mediums. When did those “in-betweens” start shaping the voice of Late Again?
I think Late Again is an amalgamation of all those things. But there was a day a couple of years ago, right before going to bed, when something clicked in my brain and made me think, “You know, I can just do this thing.”
12. Your influences range from Brazilian psychedelia to Japanese ’80s grooves. What connects all of them for you?
Probably ADHD. But did you know Brazilian and Japanese music have a lot in common? There’s been a very cool exchange of sounds between the two countries since Tom Jobim. You can hear it everywhere, from city pop to Ryuichi Sakamoto.
13. You’ve built games, directed films, and worked in advertising. How do those past lives show up in your music without you realising it?
Follow-through. Having day jobs in the creative industry taught me how to deal with my procrastinating brain and just get stuff done. It also helped me think of my music from a narrative and visual standpoint, not just a sonic one.
14. You designed your own touring light rig from scratch. What did building your show piece by piece teach you about performance?
You can usually do more than you think with very little if you’re just a bit obsessive.
15. Your humour and melancholy often live in the same sentence. Where does that instinct to mix sincerity and irony come from?
I’ve been trying to figure that one out. Probably a coping mechanism. I’ll get back to you in a few albums!
16. Clearly It’s All Staged moves between playful and deeply personal moments. Which track shifted your perspective on what the EP could be?
“Chick’n Tenders” was the last song I wrote for this EP. It’s also probably the one that takes itself the least seriously. I initially wrote it as a joke, but realising I can approach my music that way helped me understand where I can go from here. I’m not just one thing. And I think it’s special when an artist finds a balance between sincerity and lightheartedness. I’ll get there someday.
17. You often write about belonging. What has New York given you — or taken away — in that search?
Maybe there’s a sense of belonging in being surrounded by millions of people who also don’t think they belong anywhere.
18. You mentioned glimpses of a debut album ahead. What questions are you hoping the next era of Late Again will answer for you?
How far can we go? Why are we going? Does the world really need this? The last one might end up being the album title.
Late Again’s Clearly It’s All Staged is out now
