About

What exactly is it that makes you who you are? And will you be the same person tomorrow? Creepy Crawly, the project of Bristol-born and Manchester-based songwriter Rachel Cawley, was born from a need to turn an amassed collection of strange, confusing and unsettling life experiences into distilled reflections of how we become who we are, and how that sense of self is always shape-shifting and evolving.

With her distinctive crystalline vocals, Rachel weaves bittersweet narratives through richly layered songs, full of shimmering vocal harmonies and melodies that etch themselves slowly into the memory. Her songs drift across genres – fragile folk songs are sometimes joined by wobbling abrasive synths, and crunchy overdriven guitars give way to lilting lap-steel. Throughout her work, she shares first-person recollections of both miraculous and mundane moments that shape our identities.

Rachel’s debut album ‘Like a Real Thing’ was released in May 2025, and the follow-up ‘I Feel it On My Skin’ will be released on 5 June 2026. More expansive and lush in sound, this record examines the gaps between perceived truth and what may be reality. It details the thrill of falling in love and the embarrassment of falling in love too easily. Written during a summer of unstructured freedom after leaving her 9-5 job, the time felt like a throwback to hazy teenage summers, where six weeks felt like forever, waiting for real life and its limitless possibilities to start. The essence of this bittersweet nostalgia is captured in lead single ‘Buttercup’.

Like a Real Thing reviews:

A compelling blend of torch-lit ballads and occasional moments of scrappy, noisy catharsis.
GoldFlakePaint

For fans of the elliptical pop of Aldous Harding or the wry stylings of Kirsty MacColl.
Finely Tuned Sounds

An atmospheric debut album – pure and touching.
Tonic Grain

Wonderful folk-adjacent indie dream pop featuring catchy choruses and fuzzy-tinged anthemic instrumentals.

Bill’s Takes

Press / Booking – contact Rachel