- Clara Moto's second release for InFiné is a substantial work that straddles the divide between the groove and a delicate songwriting sensibility that manages to reconcile these two relatively different sonic approaches and even give a fresh take on anxiety.
"Silently" has the quality of a subtle lullaby that, while mostly providing comfort has the recipient nervously looking out of the corner of their eye in anticipation of some unseen terror. There's an overriding melancholy at work here, allied with a quirkiness that contributes to its uneasy ambiguity. Mimu's delicate vocal sits on top of a simple bass that slowly rises and falls accompanied by synth stabs and plucks. It's baroque chamber music updated for the 21st century.
"Sancy Cat," on the other hand, casts a metronomic spell by combining linear progressions that all take turns highlighting each other. It's as atmospheric as "Silently" but works on another level entirely: This is all about space and time, while "Silently" uses its lyrics to convey a strange kind of comfort. "Hiding in the Bottom Draw" completes the package and, while sounding a tiny bit cumbersome is perhaps the most wistful offering here. Its spiritual home is on the steppes of northern Europe and has me imagining blizzards and an indefinable inner warmth, albeit accompanied by some delicate percussion.
A sophisticated three tracker, then, from Miss Moto who seems to have the necessary skills to stay the course. InFiné seems to be the perfect label for her, offering a relatively eclectic platform from which she can cast her sometimes unsettling spells.
Tracklist A1 Silently
B1 Sancy Cat
B2 Hiding In The Bottom Draw