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Artist - Clara Hill's Folkwaves
Title - Sideways LP
Label - (Sonar
Kollektiv)
Released - 15.10.07
Posted 22.09.07
Clara Hill is one of the leading figures of Berlin-based Sonar Kollektiv. With an impressive discography including 2
critically acclaimed full-length albums 'Restless Times' and 'All I Can Provide' and many 12's featuring the
crème de la crème of Electronic and Jazz knob twiddlers such as Jazzanova,
AtJazz, Vikter Duplaix, Charles Webster, Slope, and
King Britt.
Clara Hill is not only a talented vocalist with a soulful and delicate voice; she is also a multi-faceted artist with the ability to span across the music genres with elegance and ease. Clara Hill now returns to her early influences with a brand-new project; Clara Hill's Folkwaves and album entitled 'Sideways'. Folk has been a huge influence for Clara from the very beginning and with this project she intends to shed a light on a hidden side of her artistic personality. For this special opus she crafted 10 delicious acoustic-based and folk-oriented songs highlighting perfectly her passionate and rapturous voice. As Clara explains, "After working two years on the last album I had to make something new, something pure and something calm". This new breath of inspiration came from revisiting her love for more guitar based music and listening closely again to artists such as Nick Drake,
Jose Gonzalez, Rivulets and The Beatles.
Hence the result is a very personal and mature album loaded with intimate tales from the heart. This is a recollection of neo-folk tunes in a calm and slightly jazzy orchestration like
'Everything' produced by Marc Mac from 4 Hero and 'Wonderful World' recalling moments of joy and well-being. She also left some space for pure guitar and sensuous string melodies in tracks such as
'If Only and Don't Go' inviting her friends of Jazzanova and Extended
Spirit, as well as male singer/song writer Thief and vocalist Nathan Amundson from Rivulets to appear on her album.
Clara Hill's Folkwaves - Sideways is a magnificent album full of enough emotional peaks and valleys to satisfy even the most temperamental music lover. This new phase in her artistic life will please her most faithful fans and will pave the way for the Sonar Kollektiv crew in its new adventures in folk music.
Rating - 10/10
Reviewer - PT
