Author | Michelle King
While almost anyone “in the know” would tell you that events like CMJ and SXSW exist for the purpose of showcasing new and upcoming artists and allowing attendees the opportunity to discover acts they otherwise may never have had a chance to see or hear, I’ll be honest in saying that it doesn’t always happen for me that way. Maybe I’m just doing it wrong (probably), but give me a list of 20 bands playing different venues at the same time, and I’m likely to choose one that I am already familiar with and know I will enjoy. One instance in which this was most certainly not the case was Thursday night of CMJ 2013, when I was pulled along to Neon Gold‘s New Shapes party with a group of colleagues having no prior knowledge of who was scheduled to perform.
We walked in the door as the evening’s opener, Claire, was in the middle of what turned out to be their last song, a cut off their ridiculously impressive debut Broken Promise Land, which would later turn out to be one of my favorite EPs of 2013. The Munich-based five-piece counts three producers, a vocalist, and a drummer to their bill and you can definitely hear the effect of such a synth-heavy cast, yet somehow they pull off this untraditional lineup flawlessly, kicking out pop hooks left and right and backing it up with dance floor ready drum machine claps and swooning, emotive vocals that strike all the right emotional chords to make the music something more than just tunes to get your feet moving. PopMatters referred to the album as “one of the best pieces of dance pop you’ll hear all year” and The 405 agreed, saying “In one foul swoop, Claire will become your new favourite band.”
Check out videos for the “Broken Promise Land” and “Games” below and don’t miss a chance to catch Claire live before they break out on the level of fellow European electropop group CHVRCHES (with whom Claire have shared the stage) and you end up having to shell out $100 to a scalper to get in the door.
For additional information:
Website: http://us.claireofficial.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/clairemusicofficial
Twitter: https://twitter.com/claireoffcl
——————————————–
Follow Michelle on Spotify for up to the minute musical suggestions!
