Available February 23, 2021, Who’s Pulling My Strings? dares listeners to experience the sadness that comes from powerlessness, and the freedom that can come from finding rock bottom.
In “Slow Motion is Not a Friend of Mine,” Clare’s classical training provides a smooth contrast in classic country song about feeling blue, while the sing-a-long section in “So We Sailed (A Sea Shanty)” creates a hooky, expansive mood in a story about the need to cut out and run. It’s Rock n Roll like the year 2020, gasoline running through your veins, but also a defiant contrast to the times done by banjo, guitars, organ, drums and washboard, and recorded and co-produced by Rich Mattson at Sparta Studios.
Psychedelic music is music to escape to, music to go into and put around yourself like a box. When the effects are right, it is like a place to hide. It is rebellion, not just from authority, but from the whole world. You can detach from your body, from earth, and go all spacey in a freaky groove set.
“Waiting for My Clock” is mysterious and gloomy. It reflects my mood over the last few years. Pushing through exhaustion, insomnia, to risk it all in the desire for something different. Spontaneous and planned comes together to create an eclectic mix of five songs, each featuring trippy pedals, powerful vocals and melancholy lyrics. Waiting for My Clock is for those who are searching for a flight away or a mystery. It is for insomniacs and anyone just wanting something different. It is also for fans of classic Psychadelic era music like Pink Floyd and The Doors or reverb-heavy acts like Dead Meadow, Low and Portishead. The album is gloomy, ruminating, but not lacking hope.
Released in 2016, “Alphabetically” is quirky rock with a vintage soul, and sylistically ranges from roots songs with mouthharp and washboard, to sweet sounding folk ballads, to 1960’s-inspired rockers. The album is tied together by strong melody lines, clever lyrics, and solid vocals.
In addition to writing and producing the album, Clare plays acoustic, banjo, folk and electric guitars, as well as accordion, harmonica, kazoo and ukulele. The eclectic mix of instruments is what gives the album the quirky feel, and allows for a variety of musical styles, ranging from the surfy, 60’s garage rock-esque “Now that I’m Colder,” to the classic-country-style “I’m Dumping You with This Song,” to the jangly, radio-friendly “Things You Say.”
Consistently solid vocals remind of the full, rounded feel of blues singer Bessie Smith on “Baby, Baby I Been so Bad,” while “Fall into Blue” and “Pieces of Gold” evoke the pretty sweetness of St. Vincent. Fans will hear crooner influences in Clare’s phrasing, as well Grace Slink in her throaty vibrato on “Give or Take a Few.”
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