tofusmell is the project of Winnipeg musician Rae Chen, who has been releasing songs in various quiet forms since their teens. What began as solitary GarageBand recordings, through courage, gradually made its way online, and quickly amassed Chen over 20k followers on TikTok.
The draw is simple but specific: soft fingerpicked guitars, plainspoken melodies and a knack for capturing small emotional slips before they’re fully processed.
Their writing carries echoes of 90s indie folk, Elliott Smith, early Sufjan Stevens, but Chen isn’t chasing their shadows. The songs feel more like notes to self than finished statements, held together by restraint and an instinct for when to let it flourish.
New single ‘(Me Tomorrow)’ gently stretches that framework. Co-produced with Winnipeg keyboardist Keiran Placatka, the track is warm and tender for most of its runtime, guitars drifting softly while Chen’s vocal sits close and unguarded.
It’s unassuming, almost lulling, until the final moments, when the song suddenly opens into a rush of drums that feels like a memory flooding back all at once. That swell collapses into a solitary flat-lining heart monitor pulse. It leaves the song sitting heavier than it first lets on.
🎧 Watch the video for ‘(Me Tomorrow)’ below