The Portland Phoenix's Sam Pfeifle on "Creature"
While much of Clara Berry’s new EP, Creature, is alluring and captivating, the first 45 seconds of her “Siren” might be the best 45 seconds recorded this year. Matt Ianotti, a UMass-Lowell-trained recording engineer, did a wonderful job of capturing Berry’s vocals, which are sultry and powerful, yes, but also absolutely exquisitely crisply delivered. Her genius is in her glottal stops, her aspirated Ts, her rumbling growl. Some mastering jobs might round off the edges, but here they are punctuation marks that provide important information, indeed.
“Just because you’re feeling low, and I am here/Does not mean I want to be/Your picture-perfect, damsel dear/Who licks your wounds,” and it gets better, Berry mixing Norah Jones and Jolie Holland and getting a playful lilt into a throaty husk, accompanying herself on piano and a captivating hum, and finishing the opening salvo in a piercing falsetto. What it builds to from there — strings, a Catwoman-vamp, Bougainvillea-tinged saxophone — is very nice. But I want to put that first 45 seconds in my pocket and be able to bring it out and peek at it every 15 seconds.
It doesn’t come as a surprise, either. The Sarah Vaughan-like scat that opens “Corner Child” and the disc is a grab-you-by-the-throat introduction and Berry never lets you forget that she can flat-out sing. She’s the first singer in a long time about whom I’ve felt I absolutely had to see her live after hearing her recorded work. I’m completely at her command.
But her band helps. Jesse Robichaud’s drums are subtle and know when to stay out of the way. On viola and cello, Theresa Cleary and Michael Coelho build tension and mood expertly. Berry is surrounded by a halo of gauzy muslin. Her training wasn’t bad, either, coming from Cerberus Shoal’s and Fire on Fire’s Tom Kovacevic.
As a closer, the beginning to “Suzanne’s Lament” is a “Siren” reprise, but Berry sings over Robichaud’s upright bass instead and this time the protagonist is more plaintive: “You feed him tea and oranges/Pray he never finds the door,” and while “He thinks that you’re half-crazy/And by that he is intrigued,” in the end “You’re just a girl that he is loving/Desperately.” That “he is loving” construction, with emphasis on the tenuous state of affairs, is the kind of small touch that separates this EP from standard singer-songwriter fare.
Sam Pfeifle


Creature

Air Traffic

Modul 4 of the Play with Your Music Course; track is Air Traffic by Clara Berry and Wooldog.

Air Traffic Underwater

I was going for a "dreamy" sound, though I think I didn't completely get it.

Clara Berry & Wooldog - Air Traffic dynamix mix (PWYM course)

If you heard the previous version, some things were "off". I decided to properly finalize the track and make it more "whole".
I'm positive some stuff could still be improved but i have the feeling the track has a real ending now.

Air Traffic (Remix by Brokenfinga) - Final version

"Leaf Off / The Cave" from 'Vestiges & Claws,' out now! Grab your copy here-
Digital: found.ee/JGVCDigital
CD: found.ee/JGCD
LP: found.ee/JGLP

Watch the official video here: http://found.ee/JGLOYTVideo
Watch the live performance from P3 Guld here: http://found.ee/JGP3Guld

2015 Tour Dates:
Tickets available: found.ee/JGFullTour

March
2 Berlin, Germany @ Heimathaften* SOLD OUT
3 Berlin, Germany @ Heimathaften* SOLD OUT
4 Prague, Czech Republic @ Lucerna Music Bar*
5 Vienna, Austria @ Ottakringer Brauerei* SOLD OUT
6 Munich, Germany @ Muffathalle* SOLD OUT
7 Zurich, Switzerland @ Kaufleuten*
8 Frankfurt, Germany @ Mousonturm* SOLD OUT
9 Amsterdam, Netherlands @ Melkweg Oude Saal* SOLD OUT
10 Paris, France @ Cabaret Sauvage*
11 London, UK @ Scala* SOLD OUT
12 London, UK @ Scala* SOLD OUT
13 Coventry, UK @ Warwick Arts Centre*
14 Manchester, UK @ Academy 2* SOLD OUT
16 Brussels, Belgium @ Cirque Royal*
17 Hamburg, Germany @ Uebel & Gefarlich* SOLD OUT

April
6 Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer*
7 Washington, DC @ 930 Club* SOLD OUT
8 Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg* SOLD OUT
10 New York, NY @ Webster Hall* SOLD OUT
11 Boston, MA @ Paradise* SOLD OUT
12 Montreal, QC @ Corona Theatre*
13 Toronto, ON @ Phoenix Concert Theatre*
14 Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall* SOLD OUT
15 Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall* SOLD OUT
16 Minneapolis, MN @ Cedar Cultural Center* SOLD OUT
17 Minneapolis, MN @ Cedar Cultural Center* SOLD OUT
18 Madison, WI @ Majestic Theatre*
20 Englewood, CO @ Gothic Theatre*
22 Salt Lake City, UT @ The Depot*
24 Portland, OR @ Roseland Theater* 
25 Vancouver, BC @ Imperial* SOLD OUT
27 San Francisco, CA @ Bimbo's 365 Club* SOLD OUT
28 San Francisco, CA @ Bimbo's 365 Club* SOLD OUT
29 Los Angeles, CA @ The Regent* SOLD OUT
30 Los Angeles, CA @ The Regent* SOLD OUT

May
22-24 Mannheim, Germany @ Maifeld Derby
22-25 Quincy, WA @ Sasquatch! Festival
28 London, UK @ Shepherd's Bush Empire 
29 Barcelona, Spain @ Primavera Sound

June
4-6 Porto, Portugal @ NOS Primavera Sound
12-14 Aarhus, Denmark @ Northside Festival
26-28 Oslo, Norway @ Piknik I Parken

July
1-4 Gdynia, Poland @ Open'er Festival
4 Dachau, Germany @ Dachauer Musiksommer
16-19 Ostrava, Czech Republic @ Colours

August
10-17 Budapest, Hungary @ Sziget Festival
20-22 St Pölten, Austria @ Frequency Festival
21-23 Biddinguizen, Netherlands @ Lowlands
21-23 Hamburg, Germany @ Dockville Festival

* with Ólöf Arnalds

Website: found.ee/JGWebsite
Mailing list: found.ee/JGMailingList
Twitter: found.ee/JGTwitter
Instagram: found.ee/JGIG
SoundCloud: found.ee/JGSC
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Spotify: found.ee/JGSpotify

Leaf Off / The Cave

as you're pressing every ounce of me 
into the curb into the street I pray 
that your strength lies in your body weight 
and you will never live to see me fade 

a crack in the alignment 
of our fragile dancing frames 
allowed for something not quite now 
to seep into our brains 

conjuring a creature far more strange 
than our minds alone could ever once create 
I'm just a girl, who'd like for you to stay 
I'm just a girl, who feels you coursing through my veins 

perhaps I should accept the role 
of nothing when they find they're full 
and see no purpose staying any longer 

perhaps the cards are stacked as such 
my hopes will never quite be touched 
by those who think I am for which they hunger 

I'm just the girl, who'd like for them to stay 
I'm just the girl, with the needle to my veins 

but of course the spoken words weren't meant 
on something else your heart is bent 
I see 

but loneliness inspired me 
to peer inside however dangerously

03 Every Ounce

just because you're feeling low and I am here 
does not mean I 
want to be your picture perfect damsel, dear 
who licks your wounds and 
asks you of your battle scars for how could I know 
how they are incurred 
I'm just a maiden, sadly waitin' for your 
heart to slowly turn 

but I've seen one too many 
warriors like you 
men who wait for paint by numbers 
pictures to themselves imbue 

I come from the sea 
but your dame I'll not be 
for I am, the wounds of which you'll speak 
heya 

and she may wait patiently 
but mystery does intrigue 
and singing my song above the tide you come 

dawning your red jacket 
indicating status of a captain 
master of the seas but stranger 
to my creature kind 

maiden of brine 
mistress of sea weed 

aimless men 
come to my bed 
to lie 

and if escape 
you try to make 
beware that I come from the sea

02 Siren

The Portland Phoenix's Sam Pfeifle on "Creature"


While much of Clara Berry’s new EP, Creature, is alluring and captivating, the first 45 seconds of her “Siren” might be the best 45 seconds recorded this year. Matt Ianotti, a UMass-Lowell-trained recording engineer, did a wonderful job of capturing Berry’s vocals, which are sultry and powerful, yes, but also absolutely exquisitely crisply delivered. Her genius is in her glottal stops, her aspirated Ts, her rumbling growl. Some mastering jobs might round off the edges, but here they are punctuation marks that provide important information, indeed.
“Just because you’re feeling low, and I am here/Does not mean I want to be/Your picture-perfect, damsel dear/Who licks your wounds,” and it gets better, Berry mixing Norah Jones and Jolie Holland and getting a playful lilt into a throaty husk, accompanying herself on piano and a captivating hum, and finishing the opening salvo in a piercing falsetto. What it builds to from there — strings, a Catwoman-vamp, Bougainvillea-tinged saxophone — is very nice. But I want to put that first 45 seconds in my pocket and be able to bring it out and peek at it every 15 seconds.
It doesn’t come as a surprise, either. The Sarah Vaughan-like scat that opens “Corner Child” and the disc is a grab-you-by-the-throat introduction and Berry never lets you forget that she can flat-out sing. She’s the first singer in a long time about whom I’ve felt I absolutely had to see her live after hearing her recorded work. I’m completely at her command.
But her band helps. Jesse Robichaud’s drums are subtle and know when to stay out of the way. On viola and cello, Theresa Cleary and Michael Coelho build tension and mood expertly. Berry is surrounded by a halo of gauzy muslin. Her training wasn’t bad, either, coming from Cerberus Shoal’s and Fire on Fire’s Tom Kovacevic.
As a closer, the beginning to “Suzanne’s Lament” is a “Siren” reprise, but Berry sings over Robichaud’s upright bass instead and this time the protagonist is more plaintive: “You feed him tea and oranges/Pray he never finds the door,” and while “He thinks that you’re half-crazy/And by that he is intrigued,” in the end “You’re just a girl that he is loving/Desperately.” That “he is loving” construction, with emphasis on the tenuous state of affairs, is the kind of small touch that separates this EP from standard singer-songwriter fare.

Sam Pfeifle 

05 Suzanne's Lament

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKeT02nGQdQ

off the upcoming "Creature" EP.  Release show @ The Northstar Cafe in Portland on June 24th at 8PM and at the Egg Roll Cafe in Lowell on June 25 at 7:30 PM

05 Suzanne's Lament

Clara Berry

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