Quiet Reckonings and Raw Honesty: Late Stage Crush’s High Noon Divorce
When a breakup is more about understanding than endings, you get Late Stage Crush. The Raleigh based duo of singer Rebecca Sunnybrook and lyricist Susan Mahlburg produce music that lies between heartbreak and healing.
Sunnybrook found this sound by discipline and transformation. As a classically trained singer, her first work was accuracy and command. She chose something else for Late Stage Crush. We wanted the songs to be stripped back and every imperfection to mean something, “she says. That choice became their identity.
Mahlburg is a published poet who lends literary focus to their songwriting, producing lyrics which speak truth rather than grandeur. Together they’ve made a sound rooted in country noir traditions but informed by modern indie minimalism.
Their very first EP High Noon Divorce is cinematic and personal. Each track runs between storm and stillness, between letting go and holding on. This isn’t music that begs for attention. It whispers and follows you long after the last note.
The Sound of Something Ending and Beginning
The title track High Noon Divorce opens just like a hushed conversation. Sparse guitars deliver the beat, and Sunnybrook’s clear voice trails Mahlburg’s written lines gradually. The song breathes between notes, each pause saying as much as the words themselves.
There’s no need for intricate production or heavy arrangement. Rather, the track veers into vulnerability. Vocals are raw but deliberate and melody haunting but calm. The result is a song which feels real-like a memory of an area you adored yet could not go back to.
They may hear Americana storytelling or maybe the poetic integrity of indie folk. Nevertheless, the sound is from Late Stage Crush. Every thing about it feels deliberate – the distance between chords, the soft ache of vocals – the psychological accuracy determining their work.
The duo have released High Noon Divorce. Their next EP is anticipated early 2026 and will include pedal steel and upright bass, enhancing their textures while keeping the emotional intensity that makes this project so compelling.
Why High Noon Divorce Feels So Human
The weight of High Noon Divorce is its treatment of heartbreak. The songs do not dramatize loss or hurry toward resolution. Rather, they exist in-between, pondering how endings could bring quiet clarity.
Sunnybrook calls the EP “songs about what stays after the storm passes.” It is a simple line but perfectly describes their work. Late Stage Crush knows that grief can be combined with peace, that separation can be beneficial, and that occasionally just sitting down and listening is the bravest thing to do.
That honesty extends their music well beyond genre. In an age when country meets indie too often blur, this particular pair proves simplicity can be strength. Every lyric, every silence is intentional. High Noon Divorce asks listeners to slow down, reflect, and accept imperfections.
And their independent approach confirms that sincerity. Each song is created by myself, self directed and without external pressure. This independence enables the music to be filtered and retain the psychological purity of the sound.
As the duo is preparing to perform all through North Carolina and Tennessee in late 2025, their live shows promise exactly the same quiet, powerful exchange that appears on their recordings – artist and audience.
Where to Listen and Connect
High Noon Divorce captures a rare emotional honesty that feels both fragile and timeless. Each track offers a reminder that healing is rarely loud, and that strength often lives in stillness.
Listen to the full project on Spotify and follow Late Stage Crush on Instagram for updates on new releases and upcoming shows.
With High Noon Divorce, Late Stage Crush turns the end of love into something tender, deliberate, and beautifully human—a quiet reckoning that listeners will want to revisit again and again.
