Clara Mann is an artist who star is quite rightly in the ascendant and ‘Thread’ is a brand-new track released to coincide with a EU/UK tour supporting Daniel Rossen (Grizzly Bear) who has recently his first solo album.
Once again Clara Mann has crafted a song which appears to sit outside of time, a reverie where melancholy floats alongside joy and allows your mind to drift in tandem with Clara’s voice which is tremulous but strong and true. ‘Thread’ has added poignancy as it celebrates a woman called Maggie who owned the farm on Dartmoor where Clara and her boyfriend were staying. Maggie was in her 90s and Clara says “had immense spirit, an absolutely wicked sense of humour, and was an incredibly powerful presence on the farm. We’d spend hours with her in the kitchen in the evenings, cooking for her and laughing- I loved her so much.
“That night, when I got home, I got a call saying Maggie had gone into hospital, and that she might be dying. I didn’t know what to do, all I could do was try and hold onto her in my heart. I suddenly wrote ‘Thread’, and recorded it on my phone. It’s dedicated to her, but it’s about the whole of that autumn, and the grief and magic of that strange time. Maggie survived that night, and lived another year, before leaving us about a month ago. Traces of her light remain, and she touched me and many others deeply- I hope we meet again someday”
The video is a mix of black and white and colour with Clara against a backdrop of suns, rain clouds and teardrops as well as watching animated circus footage. It’s bitter-sweet and reflective and there is a palpable sense that, even in performing for the camera, Clara is still moved by the tension between losing someone you love but also celebrating their profound effect on your life.
‘Thread’ is released through sevenfoursevensix records
Director/Producer/Editor/Grading/Set Design by the CLUMP Collective who have also produced videos for the likes of Grandmas House, Jiminil and Langkamer.
Live dates
May 7th – Hamburg, Kulturkirche Altona*
May 8th – Berlin, PassionKirche*
May 10th – Munich, Freiheitshalle*
May 11th – Zurich, Bogen F*
May 12th – Turin, Circolo della Musica*
May 14th – Paris, La Cafe de la Danse*
May 16th – Cologne, Kulturkirche Koln*
May 17th – Gent, Handelsbeurs*
May 19th – Leeds, Left Bank*
May 20th – London, Union Chapel*
May 23rd – Pepper Cannister, Dublin*
May 25th – St Luke’s, Glasgow*
June 2nd – How The Light Gets In Festival, Hay-on-Wye
June 11th – Off The Grid Festival, Bristol
July 29th – Farmfest, Bruton
July 31st – Deershed, Topcliffe
*supporting Grizzly Bear’s Daniel Rossen
Clara Mann socials: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Bandcamp
You can also watch The Delinquent Sessions an intimate performance from Lightship ’93 in Bristol
Review by Paul F Cook
Keep up to date with all new content on Joyzine via our
Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / Mailing List