Author | Michelle King<\/p>\n
While almost anyone \u201cin the know\u201d would tell you that events like\u00a0CMJ<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0SXSW<\/a>\u00a0exist 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\u2019ll be honest in saying that it doesn\u2019t always happen for me that way. Maybe I\u2019m just doing it wrong (probably), but give me a list of 20 bands playing different venues at the same time, and I\u2019m 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\u00a0Thursday\u00a0night of CMJ 2013, when I was pulled along to\u00a0Neon Gold<\/a>‘s\u00a0New Shapes\u00a0party with a group of colleagues having no prior knowledge of who was scheduled to perform.<\/p>\n We walked in the door as the evening\u2019s opener,\u00a0Claire<\/a>,\u00a0was in the middle of what turned out to be their last song, a cut off their ridiculously impressive debut\u00a0<\/span>Broken Promise Land<\/i>, which would later turn out to be one of\u00a0<\/span>my favorite\u00a0EPs of 2013<\/a>. 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.\u00a0<\/span>PopMatters<\/a>\u00a0referred to the album as \u201cone of the best pieces of dance pop you\u2019ll hear all year\u201d and\u00a0<\/span>The 405<\/a>\u00a0agreed, saying \u201cIn one foul swoop, Claire will become your new favourite band.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Check out videos for the \u201cBroken Promise Land\u201d and \u201cGames\u201d below and don\u2019t miss a chance to catch Claire live before they break out on the level of fellow European electropop group\u00a0CHVRCHES<\/a>\u00a0(with whom Claire have shared the stage) and you end up having to shell out $100 to a scalper to get in the door.<\/p>\n