Singer/songwriter Michael Baker explores the magic of connection and understanding in his dreamily vulnerable “Claire,” a lilting lullaby full of life and verve.
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Balance is key to everything in life, and there’s nothing like another’s helping hand to keep us from falling, and lift us up when we’re down. Singer/songwriter Michael Baker explores the magic of connection and understanding in his dreamily vulnerable “Claire,” a lilting lullaby full of life and verve.
So cut it up and let it ride
Just swan it up around
For I am pieces on a rock
I am eyes upon the hill
and we’re sharing so
we are ticking over
and pulling at the wire
It’s love and we’re the same
Love and we’re the same
You have a little rope to
Climb to be escaping
and then it’s clear we are hallucinating
Atwood Magazine is proud to be premiering the music video for “Claire,” taken from Michael Baker’s forthcoming second album Salt (due out February 2020). An incredibly talented a Brighton-born, London-based singer/songwriter, Michael Baker introduced himself in 2015 with his haunting Keys to the Kingdom EP, following that up a year later with his wonderfully orchestrated, colorful and melodically rich debut Dust & Bone.
“Claire” continues the musical journey Baker embarked upon just a few years ago, presenting his early listening soft-rock sound with an elevated level of nuance and intimacy. He sings solemnly in the second verse:
But are we really just a
riding up upon the wave
Cause babe i can see the fires
are burning on the lake
and the water falls down
the smile lines and then my baby tires
and it’s love but where’s the blame
My covers kick away
and I have a little rope to
Climb to be escaping
and then it’s clear we are hallucinating
It’s clear we are hallucinating
Claire we are hallucinating
“The track itself is about dealing with mental health and how sometimes life can feel like we are drifting through in a dream or hallucination,” Baker tells Atwood Magazine. “At first meeting people can feel like holding up a mirror to all your demons, but ultimately connection to the world is everything we need on this little journey. It’s about the importance of space, and how respecting someone’s solitude can be the kindest form of intimacy and love.
Animated Lila Babbington and Efa Blosse-Mason with inspiration from the artwork of ‘Salt’ album designer and close collaborator Alice Humphreys (also the video’s creative producer), the “Claire” music video is a colorful pastiche that visually complements the song’s rich textures and sweet timbres. Hand-made paper multilane landscapes feature two-dimensional drawings of “circle and triangle ‘characters’ as they explore the colourful paper world and interact with each other,” in the creators’ words.
As we Baker dwells in his own heart’s raw aching, the video offers a means through which we can connect without needing a literal example of that connection. Such is the power of music, and the magic of Michael Baker’s emotive, heartrending artistry.
Stream “Claire” exclusively on Atwood Magazine, and stay tuned for more from Michael Baker as he continues to unveil his second album: Salt is due out February 2020!
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