Emmalee Rainbow Turns Desire, Glamour, and the Everyday Grind Into a Cinematic New World on Café Society

Los Angeles singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and professional chef Emmalee Rainbow is stepping into a world of her own with Café Society, her forthcoming second EP, arriving October 27 through her newly launched independent label, Boo, Forever Records.

Rather than simply functioning as a collection of songs, Café Society feels like a fully realized atmosphere; one built from late-night fantasies, ordinary routines, ambition, indulgence, and the strange spaces that exist between the life we have and the life we imagine for ourselves. Rainbow draws equally from music, cinema, food, and culture, creating something that feels glamorous without losing sight of the grit underneath it.

That tension comes sharply into focus on her newest single, “Line?” The track explores the uncomfortable side of wanting: the attraction to something or someone that feels tantalizingly close while remaining just beyond reach. Rainbow doesn’t treat desire as something clean or straightforward. Instead, she lets it simmer, building an increasingly charged emotional landscape before allowing the song to completely unravel.

What begins with intimacy and restraint gradually grows into something much larger. Sultry melodies give way to a sweeping, emotionally charged climax, turning private longing into a moment of full-scale release. There is glamour in the song, but there is also desperation, making “Line?” feel less like a polished fantasy and more like the moment when the fantasy becomes impossible to contain. The single serves as an especially fitting introduction to the larger world of Café Society, a project concerned with finding beauty in places where it isn’t necessarily handed to you.

“Café Society is a love letter to the in-between moments,” Rainbow explains. “It’s about turning necessity into ritual and elevating the grind. If the world won’t give you luxury, you make it yourself, with grit, hunger and beauty in the mundane.”

That philosophy also runs through “I’ve Had Some Wine,” which arrived earlier this year. Written in the Notes app on Rainbow’s 21st birthday while she was in Las Vegas, the song examines the peculiar space between dreaming about a bigger life and becoming trapped in the repetitive rhythms of everyday existence. Vegas became an unexpected source of inspiration for Rainbow, particularly because of the city’s ability to sell fantasy as an experience.

“Vegas, oddly enough, really inspired me for this song,” she says. “The idea that we only get one life is such a cliché, but I feel like all of us are longing for an experience that doesn’t exist. Vegas represents that perfectly for me.”

That longing becomes central to the song itself. “I’ve Had Some Wine” slowly gathers momentum rather than immediately revealing its full emotional weight, eventually transforming into something enormous and cinematic. Its gradual escalation gives the track the feeling of a final-act sequence in a film the kind of moment where everything the characters have been holding back finally reaches the surface.

Together, “Line?” and “I’ve Had Some Wine” offer two different perspectives on the same underlying desire: the human tendency to reach for something beyond the present moment. One finds that yearning in secret attraction, while the other searches for it in fantasy, ambition, and the promise of a life that feels bigger than the everyday. Café Society follows Rainbow’s independently released 2022 debut EP, Origin, but represents a significant new chapter in her creative life. The project marks the first release on Boo, Forever Records, the independent label Rainbow founded with her bandmate Ryan Dwyer.

Rainbow and Dwyer also co-produced the EP, with contributions from Drew Aron of Supergloom, alongside appearances from Maxx Morando (Miley Cyrus, Liily) and Nik Freitas (Conor Oberst, The Shins, Grandaddy). The project was mixed by Wally Gagel, whose credits include Best Coast, Superchunk, and Family of the Year.

The result is a record that seems interested in making the ordinary feel extraordinary. Food, music, nightlife, ambition, desire, and routine all become part of the same cinematic language. For Rainbow, luxury isn’t necessarily about what you can afford; it’s about what you can create from what you already have. That perspective makes Café Society feel particularly personal. It isn’t an escape from reality so much as a reimagining of it.

A lifelong performer, Rainbow’s creative background extends beyond music. Before turning her attention toward songwriting and recording, she appeared in Modern Family, NCIS, and Lifetime’s Man vs. Child: Chef Showdown. Her experience as both a performer and professional chef ultimately feeds into the same artistic instinct: creating an experience people can step inside. With Café Society, Rainbow is doing exactly that; building a world where hunger can mean ambition, where routine can become ritual, and where even the most mundane moments can carry a little glamour. The EP will be released October 27 via Boo, Forever Records across streaming platforms, alongside a limited-run 12-inch vinyl edition.