We first heard Clairity’s aka Claire Wilkinson’s music when she popped up on one of our Spotify Discover Weekly playlists a few weeks ago. The Yazoo sampling ‘Velcro’ was a polished, yet cold, electro-pop hit and the accompanying artwork portrayed her as a highly stylised project.
It was very interesting then to see how different the real life Clairity was live. Gone were the stark black hair and edgy glasses from the Alienation EP sleeve and instead we were presented with a very human, awkward teenage girl with some wonderful stories to tell. Visually she reminded us of a cross between Taylor Swift and Judy Garland (no really) and from songwriting sessions in Nashville she’s certainly developed those storytelling chops that have been so crucial to Taylor’s journey.
‘Scarecrow’ is the perfect example of this, coming from a world where Claire tells us she always felt like an outsider and was a girl no one ever fancied at school.
I know my timing is off; I’m taller than all the guys. Forgive me for being strange in frightening ways.
Performing mainly with a synth/sample player, Claire seemed at her most comfortable when playing solo behind a piano. There are some issues to be ironed out but her approach and imagination make us hope she’s allowed the time to develop and really find herself and her voice before hitting centre state. It’s telling that ‘Velcro’ didn’t even make her set. All things being perfected, and you’ve potentially got the next major teenage icon waiting to happen.
Clairity is another Class of 2016 star for Republic Records and the label are killing it with Grace Mitchell and the Joe Jonas starring DNCE already on the books for next year.