Music

Skarlett Smith’s Explosive Debut ‘Love Bomb’ Hits Where It Hurts

26 May

The first time I heard Skarlett Smith’s Love Bomb, I had to pause it halfway through just to catch my breath. It wasn’t just the haunting melody or the power behind her voice—it was the story. It felt like reading someone’s diary out loud. You know that gut-punch of recognising your own heartbreak in someone else’s song? Yeah. That kind of real.

Then I watched the behind-the-scenes reel on Instagram, and suddenly, it all made sense. Skarlett isn’t just a singer—she’s a storyteller, a survivor, and a full-blown force. Born and raised in Fort Collins, Colorado, Skarlett first found her way into music at just seven years old, jamming to everything from her mom’s favourite ‘80s pop to her aunt’s reggae and her dad’s classic rock. Her sound today is a patch of all those influences, and then some.

“I cried the first time I heard my guitar play,” Skarlett tells me, thinking back to the moment she got her first real instrument at thirteen. “It was like the little girl who used to make instruments out of tissue boxes was finally being seen. I knew right then I belonged in music.”

That moment cracked open a lifelong passion. Not just for singing, but for understanding sound. Now, Skarlett doesn’t just perform, she plays. Guitar, piano, ukulele, the djembe—you name it. “Each instrument has its own voice,” she says. “I’m obsessed with how they can express emotion in their own way. It’s like each one adds something different to the feeling.”

She approaches music like someone who’s lived many lives already. Maybe that’s thanks to her time in ballet or playing volleyball in high school. “All three—dance, sports, music—require serious dedication,” she says. “They teach you to keep showing up, even when it’s hard. Especially when it’s hard.”

And when it came to writing Love Bomb, things were definitely hard. Skarlett wrote the track after surviving a painful breakup, one that involved a boyfriend blowing through her paychecks to buy a car… only to use it to see another woman. “It’s wild, right?” she says, half-laughing. “But when it happened, I was in shock. That’s what the song is about—the self-destruction of a love that felt so real. Until it wasn’t.”

The term love bombing refers to the manipulative cycle of overwhelming someone with affection, only to pull the rug out from under them. And Love Bomb captures that cycle perfectly. The second verse is especially raw, something Skarlett admits was tough to write: “It’s kind of like being naked. But I couldn’t have been the only one feeling that way. Vulnerability is actually my favorite fear to face.”

Helping her bring that vision to life was none other than DeMario “Rio” Bridges, a two-time Grammy Award-winning producer and founder of Savant Soundz Records. “Surreal is an understatement,” Skarlett says of working with him. “Rio took the concept and elevated it. He created this safe space where I could be completely open. He made sure the emotion translated.”

And it did. Since its release on April 29, 2025, Love Bomb has been climbing the charts and flooding social media feeds. People are opening up in the comments and DMs, sharing their own stories of being love-bombed. “Some of y’all have shared the wildest stories,” she says. “It means everything knowing this song is helping people process what they went through. I didn’t expect it to hit so many people this deeply.”

What’s wild is that Skarlett almost didn’t make it here. “I failed music theory twice,” she laughs. “And I got kicked out of choir. They told me I had no future in music. But I kept going because the desire to create never went away. Some things are just too loud to ignore.”

Today, Skarlett describes her sound in three words: emotional, unique, and captivating. “Emotional, because I’m dramatic and can’t hide what I’m feeling. Unique, because I’ve always had a low voice people teased me for as a kid. And captivating, because people always double-take when I start singing.”

And it’s true, once she starts, you can’t look away. That’s probably what icons like Madonna and Lady Gaga saw in themselves too and why she cites them as their inspirations. “They taught me how to be bold and unapologetically myself, that’s what I want to bring into my sound.”

Now signed to Savant Soundz and with Love Bomb blazing the trail, Skarlett’s just getting started. “This is only the beginning, there’s so much more coming—new music, visuals, and some really exciting projects. I can’t wait for y’all to hear it.”

Read more Music stories from KLATMAG