Artist Of The Week #153 - Clara Mann
This week’s Artist of the Week is folk artist Clara Mann, who has just released her enchanting debut EP ‘Consolations’ via Sad Club Records. This collection of four tracks see Clara inviting you into a world of magical realism. She took a moment to talk to us about living in the South of France as a child, singing in choirs and how the EP came together.
Hey there Clara, how are you? So your debut EP is finally here - how does it feel to finally have it out there in the world?
Hiya! I’m okay, just keeping going through all this madness as well as the next person. I feel grateful to be safe and well.
I’m so happy the EP is finally out! I’ve been overwhelmed by the support the singles have received, and I’ve been really excited to release the whole thing. I wish I could hug every single person who’s supported me or offered words of wisdom leading up to this release RIGHT NOW- I can’t wait to (try to) do that as soon as it’s safe.
It is titled ‘Consolations’ - does that have any certain meaning behind it?
Yes! This is what music has been for me, over the last year, and for as long as I can remember. I write songs to console myself, to find comfort, and to wrap myself up if I feel vulnerable, so more than anything, I hope that other people find that the EP offers something similar for them.
“Consolations” is also the name of a series of piano pieces by the Romantic composer, Liszt. Early last year, I saw an old edition lying on the piano at my parents’ house- my ma used to play the Consolations a lot when I was little, and I have always loved them. It felt meant to be- a big posthumous thank you from me to Mr Liszt.
Where was the EP recorded? Any behind the scenes stories from that experience?
This EP was recorded over lockdown- I’d planned to record with Ben (Spike Saunders, who mixed the EP), but obviously we had to adapt to the circumstances, so instead it was done on my mic at home.
When the lockdown eased over summer, I went to stay with my friend Mari, who plays fiddle on the EP, and worked with her (and Felix M-B) on adding the final bits and pieces instrumentation-wise. It was the best and most joyful week of summer, in a year that was undoubtedly and irreparably rubbish- she lives on Dartmoor, so we did a lot of walking, wild-swimming, and other nice things like…day drinking.
Initially I think I felt robbed of the recording experienced I had planned for- but as I got into the home recording process, and leaned into the lofi thing, it felt exciting. In the end, I think the intimacy of those home recordings is exactly what the songs needed, and I’m so grateful for the patience of the people around me, who helped me overcome the initial difficulties I faced ( my complete inability to use any kind of technology without getting so frustrated I want to smash up my laptop with a hammer)
You were brought up in the South of France - do you feel that influenced your writing style at all?
For sure! I think my appreciation for poetry, particularly French poetry, and undoubtedly classic 20th century French song, really bleed into my writing style- or at least I hope they do! I like my lyrics to be honest, but metaphor and story telling are also a big part of my style, which I’m sure come partly from that whole literary/ musical atmosphere.
I’m not religious, neither is my family- we I attended church rather irregularly, because it was the done thing, and we didn’t want to be outsiders to the community any more than we already were simply by the fact that we were English- but we all liked the music so much, that we didn’t mind! We were maybe drawn to spirituality, but nothing like the kind of Catholicism that’s associated with that part of France.
I think a love of Divine music has stayed with me, but so has an appreciation of the stillness and quiet that’s woven into those ceremonies. Choral music has also influenced my vocal style hugely- I have zero vocal training, but a LOT of experience singing in choirs- and my vocal arrangements too.
What are your earliest musical memories from that period of your life?
I remember singing carols in a Christmas nativity play once when I was little (I played one of the 3 Kings, Balthazar, the best one) and nearly passing out on stage because of the density of the smoke billowing from the incense that I had to hold.
I vividly remember there being a live donkey in the church, but when I asked my ma about it she said I must have hallucinated that somewhere between inhaling the smoke and being removed from the stage by a concerned pair of arms.
On a more positive note, I remember playing the piano in the house in France, with the windows wide open, and the smell of roses coming in from the garden. It's a simple, perfect memory.
The track ‘Station Song’ on the EP feels like a growing up track - what is the story behind it?
I agree, I wrote it in the autumn of 2019 after recently moving to the city, and looking back it feels like a coming of age song. It’s about the pain of leaving behind a simpler life, and the uncomplicated relationships that punctuated it. I had grown apart from a childhood friend, through no fault of theirs or mine- we just grew, and changed, and realised that some things aren’t meant to last. Station Song is me acknowledging that process, but also my own unwillingness to let go of something that had brought so much joy, even when it became unrecognisable.
What are the key themes and influences on the EP?
There were no conscious choices of themes for Consolations- in the writing of it, it was simply a collection of songs from a particular period of my life- but retrospectively I see things I perhaps couldn’t at the time, as I have a little more distance from the songs these days. I think loneliness is a big one- that universal feeling of being alone in a crowd, or in a city. I think almost all young people recognise that feeling, and although I wasn’t particularly trying to write “relatable” music, I recognise the universality of the theme.
A search for connection, too, and the way in which one seeks out familiar things in people.
Memory, perhaps. Longing.
Do you have a favourite lyric on the EP? If so - which one and why?
I almost don’t want to say, because I want people to have one of their own- but I think mine is from the third verse of I Didn’t Know You Were Leaving Today, and it’s just “I hope you can love me this way”. In my mind, that's what the EP is all about.
Now the debut EP is out there - what next for Clara?
I’m so grateful to be sharing my music, and for the support I’ve received, that honestly whatever comes from this point will be a bonus! In the end there’s so little I, or anyone, can be sure of these days, so I can’t make any promises except maybe… more songs?