Single Review: Clare Kelly - Sedation/Skinning Apples

Leeds-born singer-songwriter Clare Kelly has released her latest double single, Sedation and Skinning Apples.

Inspired by both the ocean and the storytellers she grew up listening to, such as Springsteen and Stevie Nicks, Kelly’s sound is one that comes from the deep, haunting yet tender. Her so-called ‘mer-folk’ style articulates the experiences of the modern youth through the comforting sound of a song steeped in tradition, creating works often riddled with personal anxieties, yet still totally beautiful.

Sedation focusses on the breakdown of a relationship with a sub-par and emotionally distant lover, with Kelly capturing both the sadness and resentment that comes with calling it quits. Skinning Apples takes a more optimistic tone, concentrating on the pure and simple love that is friendship, its steady drum beat and sun-soaked lyrics transforming the song into something akin to a traveller’s chant of prosperity. Whilst dissimilar in tone, both Sedation and Skinning Apples are an open window into Kelly’s heart, as she bares her vulnerability so that the listener may bare theirs.

Kelly’s vocals are undeniably the star of the show - rich, okay and emotive, she relives again both the pain and the pleasure in her experiences; in Sedation, especially, her voice skims high and sweet before dipping low and earthy, seemingly caught between a trill and a wail. Often accompanied by an understated guitar, she carries every song herself. Her message is direct and honest, which is perhaps Kelly’s most enticing trait: her unashamed openness and simplicity in communication.

But even when dealing with personal - and sometimes painful - subject matter, Kelly juxtaposes this with her funny and refreshingly candid lyrics (“I climbed out your bathroom window, I almost broke my back - cheers for that”) that capture the turmoils of the relationships of the modern day. Her fusing of the millennial experience into the ethereal hum of an aquatic folk song places her in a timezone of her own, and whether intended or not, Kelly’s songs carry with them an air of reassurance. She becomes a liminal figure that straddles eras, her style wrapping the fears and uncertainties of youth in the comforting ebb and flow of the deep.

Sedation and Skimming Apples are two very different outlooks on two very different relationships, and Kelly doesn’t sugar-coat anything that she doesn’t need to. Her sound is hypnotic and enchanting, transforming the observations of the modern day into a timeless wonder, and pulls the listener beneath the surface into a floating suspension.

Words: Megan FitzGerald