tofusmell is the project musician Rae Chen. Their music is inspired by 90s indie-folk music and Rae’s own 2012 emo phase. Rae uses poetry influences in his emotive lyricism to comment on themes like gender, religion, and love. Each stirring track is written, recorded, and produced in Rae’s Orlando bedroom solely by him (with a MacBook and a single microphone). tofusmell’s “Shower Song,” their new single and contribution to Hardly Art’s 15th Anniversary Singles Series.

Rae says “‘Shower Song’ is about how it’s impossible for me to have a shower that doesn’t, in some way, feel like some sort of ritualistic examination of my body. Not necessarily critical, but there is always an undeniable attention to my body in relation to my gender. The song is pretty straight forward in describing a scene of me in the shower, looking down at myself and imagining the water rolling down along a silhouette that better reflects how I wish to be seen.“

2022 marks 15 years of Hardly Art and 15 years of sharing music they love, from The Duchess and the Duke to Hunx and His Punx to Protomartyr to La Luz to My Idea. The label home for some of their favorite artists over the past 15 years, has launched launch Hardly Art 15. Over the course of the year, they will share 15 new singles from 15 of their favorite artists.

Other Hardly Art Singles Series contributions include annonXL, Nana Lourdes, Marbled Eye, ill peach, Hushpuppy, and more through their singles series playlist on Spotify.