Scarlett Macfarlane Finds Strength in What Remains on Hopeful Alt-Pop Single “Ghost”
As her musical journey continues to unfold, Scarlett Macfarlane shares “Ghost,” a reflective, hopeful alt-pop single that transforms one of her deepest fears into an unexpectedly empowering meditation on love, loss, and self-reliance. What began late one night with the fear of losing her mother gradually became something much larger: a reminder that the people we love never entirely disappear from us, and that even in their absence, we remain capable of carrying ourselves forward.
Initially consumed by the cruelty of time and the pain of being left behind, Scarlett began considering loss from another perspective. Instead of asking how she would survive someone leaving, she wondered what that person – particularly her mother – would want her to feel after they were gone. The answer shifted the entire direction of the song.
Whether understood as a spirit, a memory, a legacy, or simply the ways another person permanently alters who we become, Scarlett found comfort in the idea that someone we love is never entirely absent. As the song developed, that realization turned inward, becoming an equally important reminder that as long as she still had herself, she could never truly be alone.
That layered idea gives the song its title. “Ghost” refers not only to someone whose presence remains after they are gone, but also to the fears that haunt us and the innermost self that follows us through everything. What began as a late-night confrontation with loss ultimately became one of Scarlett’s most personally uplifting songs.
“Love is a beautiful thing and missing someone, while painful, doesn’t mean you aren’t enough for yourself,” she shares.
“Ghost” was also the song that began Scarlett’s current creative chapter. After years away from the studio, she recorded a bare-bones demo with Grammy-winning producer Scott Jacoby as a test to see whether she wanted to fully pursue her new material. Hearing herself reflected back through the recording gave her the answer immediately. Driving home from the session, she knew she wanted to keep going and the first person she called was her mom.
Director Lucy Gamades initially captured much of the accompanying music video for “Ghost” on 16mm film in late 2025, but when a key double-exposure element of Scarlett’s vision was missing, she postponed the release rather than settle. Nearly a year later, a living-room green-screen reshoot and the addition of editor Hunter finally brought the concept across the finish line.
That persistence mirrors the larger philosophy behind “Ghost” and Scarlett’s broader body of work: resilience, self-acceptance, and refusing to give up on yourself. Loss may change us profoundly, but it does not have to erase us.