Band’s Indian, Malaysian, Mexican, Chilean, European blood helps form new American sound.
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Clara May (L-R): Nicole Sotelo and Tom Silva. Photograph by Andreé Narvaez.
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“Hush” is the latest single and video from the debut album by Clara May
[SOUNDCLOUD]: http://soundcloud.com/fanaticpro/clara-may-hush
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“Rich and alluring... a mini-melting pot of new American music.” – Chicago Sun-Times
“One could hardly hope for two more unique and distinct voices...” – My Old Kentucky Blog
“‘Hush’ is a melding of great lyricism and my obsession with typography,” says director Jason Robert Becker of the clip he created for the title song from Chicago duo Clara May’s debut album. “It was really the footage of the band performing that inspired it all. It felt like watching old film of The Velvet Underground.”
“We’re aping the style of 90’s designers like David Carson, who pioneered the use of type and fractured images in magazine ads,” explains Tom Silva, one half of Clara May. “It was Jason who brought the idea of putting the lyrics front and center.” Silva is no stranger to narrative, having already seen success as an auteur whose film “The Quiet” was named “Best Independent Film” by Chicago Screen Magazine. Silva’s songwriting partner in Clara May is Nicole Sotelo, a Harvard-trained theologian and author.
Together, with the help of some of Chicago’s most adept players, Silva and Sotelo have created the dark, romantic and socially conscious album, Hush. The album’s title track is a bitter breakup song that sounds like Beck’s “Lost Cause” filtered through Echo and The Bunnymen. “I started wanting to write a post-punk British new wave kind of track that sounded like The Thompson Twins and Queen's ‘A Kind of Magic.’” Silva says.
Much of the rest of Hush explores themes rarely addressed by mainstream music. Cultural identity is one and in addition to the subject matter, the musicians on Hush represent a melting pot of Chicago themselves. “We wanted to use our combined Indian, Malaysian, Mexican, Chilean, and European backgrounds to create a new kind of American sound,” says the Malaysian-born Silva.
“I would be honored if Clara May were considered the first true Desi rock band in America,” he continues. “I am very interested in celebrating my Indian heritage and talking about the issues that affect South Asians through the medium of rock music.” Hush, the debut album by Clara May is out now. Tom Silva and Nicole Sotelo are available for interviews. Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic for more information.
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Clara May – Hush
(S/R – Out Now)
Track Listing:
01. Own That Feeling
03. Location of Culture
04. Good Morning
05. The Chosen
06. Away
07. Scrawl
08.Lullaby
09.Hyderabad
10. Diaspora
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Clara May Links
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Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic Promotion
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