TESSA RAE'S NEW TRACK SUGAR COATED LOVE IS THE SWEET FIX YOU NEED

WORDS RACHEL EDWARDS - PHOTOGRAPHY SHANE MCCAULEY

Last year we sat down and spoke to LA based artist Tessa Rae, who was celebrating the release of her track Sweetly, Softly. A year later, and in-keeping with the sweet theme, Rae is back with the release of her latest single Sugar Coated Love. So what has changed over the last twelve months? Her curiosity for exploring the world is still alive and well, that's for sure. When she's not making music, you can expect to find her at the flea market, rummaging through a box of relics. But for Rae, who lives by the mantra that each day is an opportunity to "grow and become a better person", it comes as no surprise that she has spent the last year becoming more aligned artistically with her authentic self.

The music video for Sugar Coated Love, which is out today, shows Rae loved up with her boyfriend, who, by the way, has a real tattoo of the lyrics (what's that saying about "if he wanted to he would"?). It's dreamy, which makes sense when you discover that the song is a depiction of the honeymoon phase of a relationship. Interestingly, for Rae it also represents the honeymoon phase of writing a song – a natural chemistry that can't be forced. If Sugarcoated Love is anything to go by, Rae is entering a golden era where her sound, style, and spirit are all speaking the same language.

Rachel Edwards: Hi Tessa, thank you for joining me so early in the morning. You're looking very fresh for 9am, I have to say. How are your mornings at the moment?

Tessa Rae: Oh, thank you, I've been starting to get up earlier so it's nice to have an excuse to wake up.I like to journal when I first wake up. I read this book called 'The Artist's Way'...

RE: Yes, by Julia Cameron!

TR: Yeah! A big part of that is you have to do your morning pages. That's what got me into journaling in the morning. I haven't been as consistent lately, but I'm trying. I feel like it helps clear my head. I also love to do a tarot reading at the start of the day, I have a bunch of decks everywhere.

RE: Okay, I’m taking inspiration from your morning routine.

TR: Yesterday I went on a really long walk. I walked into an antique shop, but I forgot my wallet, so I couldn't buy anything, which I actually found is a good technique. You feel like you're getting your shopping urge out, but you're not buying anything. Sometimes I'm like "I just want to shop or do something at the start of the day to get my mind off of being a human." 

RE: I love getting out in the morning. So let’s talk about your new track. I've been listening to Sugar Coated Love and it's great because I'm listening to a lot of dream pop right now, like Beach House, Weyes Blood... What's the meaning behind Sugar Coated Love for you?

TR: Sugar Coated Love is the first single from my project. I feel like it was the easiest song to write and the easiest song to produce because we weren't trying to write a song. We were just hanging out and I jumped on the piano and wrote the verse. My producer was at the computer and just started making a beat. It just felt like it was just pure fun. When you're making a body of work, it can be easy to overthink and become focused on it feeling meaningful, but this one was really spontaneous and fun and reminded me of falling in love. It made me think of the first stages, the honeymoon phase - it was like the honeymoon period of the project when everything is really sweet and simple and kind of mysterious. 

RE: It sounds so natural.

TR: It's something that happened very organically. That's what makes it feel magical, when you don't have to sit and try to create art, it just happens. And I think that's what makes me love being a songwriter because it can be the most spontaneous moment of creativity when you feel like you're on the right path.

RE: We spoke to you a year ago when you were celebrating the release of Sweetly, Softly. And now we've got Sugar Coated Love. I feel like there's a theme here. Do you have a sweet tooth?

TR: Oh my gosh, I do have a sweet tooth. It's really bad. I went to the mall yesterday with my sister and went into one of those candy shops because I was like "You know what? My song is called ‘Sugar Coated Love. It's coming out. I'm going to celebrate with buying a bunch of candy I wouldn't normally buy". 

RE: Was it pick 'n' mix? 

TR: Yeah it was! But usually I'll buy a cookie when I'm getting my coffee. I go through these health conscious phases and lately I'm just really thinking about how people are addicted to sugar. 

RE: I honestly can't imagine not having dessert after dinner.  I have to have something sweet after each meal even if it's just small. 

TR: I've been doing fruit and lime after dinner. I released Sweetly, Softly a year ago because it is a similar subject matter. That was actually going to be the title of my EP and I was going to put out this whole acoustic project… and then life kind of changed course a little and I didn't end up putting out that project. It feels really good to be putting out music a year later and feeling like I've had a lot of growth. Now the music I'm going to put out really represents me in a good way, so I'm excited.

RE: How would you say you've changed as an artist over the last year?

TR: I stopped working with a collaborator that just wasn't the right fit anymore. I think we'd outgrown each other, and then I started working with people that felt more like home and like it was just really easy to connect with them. I was listening to different music. I started listening to artists like 'Sade' and 'Men I Trust'.

RE: I love 'Men I Trust' as well.

TR:  I am obsessed with 'Men I Trust' and I'm always listening to their mixes in the car. I think I know myself better now.

RE: Would you say you've learned any lessons in love in the last year? 

TR: Oh, gosh. Yeah, I've been in a relationship for about a year and I think I'm learning how to receive and how to give love. I thought I was better at it than I might have been, and I think it is always about growing and finding someone that's willing to grow with you. I'm someone that's very aware that every day I could be growing and becoming a better person, so as long as my partner is on the same page, I think it's about helping each other find that growth.

RE: It takes a lot of growth and retrospection to even say that you could have been a better partner in the past. I think it's very easy for people to focus solely on how the other person's made them feel and not focus on the kind of partner that they're being.

TR: Yeah I think I was more closed off than I thought I was. My partner was like “why won't you let me get to know you?” And I thought I was, but I am just naturally someone that has a lot of walls up. You are the way that you are in a lot of ways and it's also about accepting the way that someone is.

RE: Do you feel like music's an outlet where the walls break down and you don't have the guard up? 

TR: Yeah, my collaborators this year have pushed me out of my comfort zone. I was trying to make an acoustic singer-songwriter project for so long because that's what I listened to, and it just wasn't manifesting. I had all these beautiful songs, but they didn't sound the way I wanted them to, so I started working with people that were kind of pushing me and saying “let's try more uptempo” or “let's try like this kind of grouping” and it allowed me to surprise myself with what kind of music we could make. I love the saying ‘be open to pleasant surprises’ and I try to remember that a lot. 

RE: It’s easy to forget as you get older. I also love the music video for Sugar Coated Love. Is the tattoo at the start, showing the words ‘Sugar Coated Love’ real?

TR: Yes, it’s real! So that is my partner.

R:E Oh my God. I was thinking that! I was like “this is very good acting because there's some serious natural chemistry there”...

TR: (Laughs) We shot it in Australia because LA was literally on fire... So we flew our friend Max out, who's a videographer and he shot the video. And yeah, the tattoo is real. I think I was like “what if we went and got a tattoo?” and my boyfriend was like “oh yeah, sure”. We shot it from our hotel room and around the hotel. That was a really fun day. That was like our first video we did together so I think we were both a little nervous.

RE: How much creative control do you have generally over your music videos?

TR: I'm a control freak so I like to be part of every process, every step of the way. I'll look at the frame and be like “I think it should be framed this way”. But I'm also learning to trust people and let people do what they're good at.

RE: You’re also working with people you really trust, aren't you? 

TR: Yeah, I feel like I've built a good community in the last year of creatives that I can work with, so it's not starting over every time you work with someone. There's a consistency and a foundation of “we're on the same page and we both care”.

RE: Do you find it easy to find people in LA to collaborate with? Because obviously there are so many creative people you meet all the time doing this and doing that, but I wonder how much of it is talk or empty promises? Or maybe most people are looking for genuine connections?

TR: I've learned that you never know what to expect when you find someone, but you hope that people are nice and responsible. It’s a mixed bag but you do find good people eventually if you stay open. It's not always going to be the best experience but it is a crazy community of people. There are so many musicians that I know out here – we’ll see each other and cross paths and it’s an interesting ecosystem to be a part of.

RE: Do you see yourself living in LA long-term or do you see yourself moving or traveling?

TR: The romantic in me definitely wants to live somewhere else one day but I'm such a creature of habit I don't know if I would ever move anywhere else. I think I’m definitely manifesting more travel just to escape. And the name of my project is Elsewhere. So Sugar Coated Love is the first single of Elsewhere.  Elsewhere is about that desire to travel and experience new things, but it's also about coming home and realising you are your own home. You can go anywhere but you'll still have to come home in some way.

RE: Yeah, and you take yourself with you wherever you go as well. You sometimes feel like you're leaving yourself behind when you go somewhere but you're always taking yourself, the good and the bad, with you. Is there anyone that you particularly want to collaborate with right now, if I could wave a magic wand and make it happen?

TR: Oh gosh, um.. I'm obsessed with Clairo and Rostam who produced one of her projects.

RE: Clairo makes so much sense. Let’s put that into the universe. Is there a song on Elsewhere that you're really excited to release?

TR: There's this song called Lovers Always Lose. It's a tongue twister, but it's actually the most recent one we made and I brought my two collaborators together and magic happened. It also seems to be a favourite for everyone that I've been showing the project to. 

RE: Have you got plans to tour at all? Is that coming up in the future?

TR: I definitely want to book an opening act with someone and go on tour. I've only been on one tour before and it was a lot of fun, so definitely that's next on the list. 

RE: Do you get nervous before going on stage?

TR: I definitely get nervous but I feel like the nerves wear off like when I'm up there. 

RE: And what's a perfect summer day to you?

TR: Honestly, yesterday was pretty great. I went on a walk, I went to the antique mall. I just love shopping for knick-knacks. They bring me joy. That and getting in the pool, just being in water. Fresh fruit, writing a song, being with my cat. 

RE: It sounds like a dream. 

TR: Yeah, honestly, I need to be more grateful, because I have the best cat. I have a pool I can swim in… 

RE: And you do seem to have this kind of quiet confidence and real knowledge of who you are and what you like. Do you ever deal with self-doubt?

TR:  That's one of the biggest struggles I think, for every artist, this sense of imposter syndrome, which I've had to work through a lot. I think I'm confident now because I really have put a lot of work into being an artist, everything that that means, and being a songwriter and feeling confident in my skills. But I do still feel doubtful, even yesterday, I was like “oh, my song's coming out”. Maybe I was excited, but I felt nervous. I ended up just going to the mall with my sister, buying candy. When I'm feeling insecure or doubtful I just need to get out of my head. For me, that's going out and doing something so I was like “I'm just going to go get a frappuccino and hang out with my sister and not think about music for a second.” And I love the surprise element of finding knick-knacks!

RE: So last year we asked you  what you were excited about in 2024. So I'm going to say, what are you excited about for the rest of 2025?

TR: Oh, man, I mean, I've never printed out a full body of work. Or I did, but I took it off the internet, so we don't count that. I didn't know who I was.

RE: That's great. Everyone does this!. It's just reinventing, constant reinvention and moving forward. I think it’s very real.

TR: Yeah, exactly. I'm allowing myself to reinvent. So I think I'm just really excited to put out a full body work that will exist in the world forever, which doesn't scare me now. So that feels good. 

RE: And lastly, what is your favourite 'F word'?

TR: Oh my gosh. What did I say last year, I wonder? I'm going to say 'fulfilment' because I feel like that's why I do everything I do, to have that feeling. 

RE: Last year you said faith! Faith and fulfilment.

TR: That would be something I would say. I can't believe I didn't say fate because I love the idea of fate. But maybe next year...