The Clientele share beautiful new single “Claire’s Not Real” 

Cherished London trio The Clientele releases “Claire’s Not Real,” the new single from their forthcoming album, “I Am Not There Anymore”, out July 28th on Merge.

This time around, The Clientele – vocalist/lyricist/guitarist Alasdair MacLean, bassist James Hornsey and drummer Mark Keen – incorporated elements of post-bop jazz, contemporary classical and electronic music to their work.

According to MacLean, “None of those things had been able to find their way into our sound other than in the most passing way, in the faintest imprint.” The result in songs like “Claire’s Not Real”, which shifts fluidly from a light bossa nova beat to The Clientele’s classic chamber pop. “And sometimes I’m walking home, at my door, I am not there anymore,” MacLean sings atop lush instrumentation, “I am not there anymore, do you know what I mean?”

MacLean notes that he’s not the kind of songwriter who ever sits down with a theme in mind; it’s more that “the music will bring images and then those images link of their own accord.” On “Claire’s Not Real,” MacLean evokes the all-too familiar eerie beauty of a sky lit orange by forest fires. “I was in Cercedilla in Spain in summer 2020,” he says of the track. “There was suddenly a rain of ash and an orange glow on the horizon, and I read on my phone that nearby Ávila was burning with forest fires. This moment found its way into several songs on the album.”