Shannon & The Clams’ lead vocalist and bassist Shannon Shaw discusses processing the world through anguish and expanding one’s sonic capabilities on her band’s heartbreakingly cathartic new record, ‘The Moon Is In The Wrong Place.’
Stream: ‘The Moon Is In The Wrong Place’ – Shannon & The Clams
When he died, I kept obsessing over the fact that the moon was in the wrong place and what that could mean for life from now on. Everything without Joe feels so wrong.
In August 2022, Shannon & The Clams’ Shannon Shaw experienced something we never want to happen: Losing the love of your life.
In an instant, Shaw’s fiancé, Joe Haener, was gone, and the entire world shifted into a dark vortex, catapulting everyone in their lives into a deep state of grief and loss. Questions were left without answers, and time abruptly stopped without warning, but like most, we all have an outlet to process such tragedy, and Shaw found solace in her songwriting.
On Shannon & The Clams’ new record, The Moon Is In The Wrong Place (out now via Easy Eye Sound), you must contend with a melancholic feeling that something is off right out of the gate, even without knowing the previous context. The first track, titled “The Vow” (written to be performed on Shaw and Haener’s wedding day), casts the imagery of falling in love, an urge to hear “I do,” but the undertones suggest a different set of emotions. It is the perfect yet heart-rending prologue to the story that unfolds while listening through the entire record.
Lips to lips it was so divine.
Yes, it seems like it’s over,
but forever, you’re mine.
As the album progresses, Shaw, Cody Blanchard on vocals/guitar, Nate Mahan on drums, and Will Sprott on vocals/keys morph through different sounds, twisting and turning through fast-paced rhythms like on the psychedelic “The Hourglass.” It possesses this feeling of unrest and a yearning to reset the clock. As the emotions surface and oscillate through the different tracks, you discover a lighthearted singalong tale on “Bean Fields,” which aims to lift your spirits and influence you to celebrate the life and time we spend on this earth with your loved ones.
This is why this record is so special – the blatant crossover of sensations these tracks produce perfectly embody the many stages of grief.
Meet me in the bean fields
in the shank of the evening
Gonna lay down where you laid down
and look for satellites of love.
The Moon Is In The Wrong Place is Shannon & The Clams’ most idiosyncratic album so far.
While they stay true to their fuzzy, pure, and nostalgic garage rock sound, they also venture into new and unfamiliar musical territory that blends perfectly with the intimate memories and stories they have written. The album showcases the band’s versatility and ascends out of the depths of heartbreak, the pleasures of longevity, and the effervescent beauty of true love.
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:: stream/purchase The Moon Is in the Wrong Place here ::
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A CONVERSATION WITH SHANNON & THE CLAMS
Atwood Magazine: Firstly, how is everyone’s 2024 going so far? Are you getting excited about the album release?
Shannon Shaw: It’s been a really busy year already. I am very excited for people to hear this album!
It’s been a couple of years since your last record, Year Of The Spider, which was an incredible album from front to back. Has anything in your writing process changed since?
Shannon Shaw: Thanks so much. I think the difference is that this album was born out of deep grief. All I could think about was losing Joe, life changing in the blink of an eye, and how grateful for all the time I had with him and everything I learned from him. So, this album is wholly focused on the impact this loss has had on us. I felt like I was on fire, overflowing with ideas. Writing music is how I have always processed trauma and sadness. So, I started having songs flow into my mind just days after his death.
Can you tell me where the title of the new record, The Moon Is In The Wrong Place, came from and what inspired it?
Shannon Shaw: The song is quite literal if you listen to the lyrics. Joe asked me if “the moon is in the wrong place or whatever?” shortly before he passed away. He was referring to Mercury in retrograde, but couldn’t remember what it was called. Apparently, everything had been going wrong at work and breaking down and falling apart. I thought it was the best thing I’d ever heard, and I wrote it down! And then when he passed away, I kept thinking about it. We played a show 3 nights before with my solo band at Topaz Farms under a massive full moon and I felt very affected by it. When he died, I kept obsessing over the fact that the moon was in the wrong place and what that could mean for life from now on. Everything without Joe feels so wrong.
When he died, I kept obsessing over the fact that the moon was in the wrong place and what that could mean for life from now on. Everything without Joe feels so wrong.
In my opinion, this new record is a masterpiece! The songwriting is pure, and the instrumentals sound concise and directed. It’s a bit different from your previous releases, but it still has that edge y’all have always brought to the table. Were there any inspirations or influences that helped manifest this direction?
Shannon Shaw: Thank you. I think it naturally just poured out of us. I will say I also listened to Joe’s mixtape compilations nonstop at this time. I think a lot of that probably floated into my head as well.
The album's introduction starts with the heartbreakingly gorgeous track “The Vow,” which was written for the late Joe Haener. My sincere condolences. Can you tell me a little history about writing this song?
Shannon Shaw: This is the only song that was partially written before his death. I wrote it on guitar using chords Joe taught me (I didn’t know how to play guitar before). I wrote this as a secret wedding song to perform for him at the party. When he died and we started writing the album, I felt very bitter that he wasn’t going to hear it, no one would get to hear it, so as sad and painful as it was finishing the song, I finished it and turned it into more of a f*ed ballad of that time. The sheer joy, the happiest time in my entire life right into early pain of loss and grasping to find a way to still have him. I do feel like forever he is mine. Our love will never end; it’s just transcended.
The sheer joy, the happiest time in my entire life right into early pain of loss and grasping to find a way to still have him. I do feel like forever he is mine. Our love will never end; it’s just transcended.
Following the intro is “The Hourglass,” which is probably one of my favorites. It’s fast, hypnotic, and really packs a punch. How did this song come to fruition?
Shannon Shaw: It was very important to me that these tracks go back-to-back. I think “The Vow” is like daylight, the beginning of everything, the joy into the shock, and “The Hourglass” is deeper. It sonically captures the words I can hardly say. The confusion, rage, intensity, and complexity of the feelings coming out of the initial shock. It’s the realization that this is real, my new forever.
The confusion, rage, intensity, and complexity of the feelings coming out of the initial shock. It’s the realization that this is real, my new forever.
I’ve read that you purchased an Omnichord while writing some new tracks. What was that like? Did it help open up new ideas?
Shannon Shaw: Big time. I typically write on a bass and just was overflowing with ideas. I had many chords and melodies in my head that I couldn’t find on the bass. I only had very limited chords I knew on guitar and so I kept asking my band if a keyboard existed that played a whole chord on one key. Eventually they told me about the omnichord and I got one immediately. IT opened up a whole world for me. I couldn’t stop playing it. It was such a help.
On the groovy and almost mysterious track “UFO,” with vocals from Will, how did you decide to have Will front the vocals, and where did this idea for the song originate?
Shannon Shaw: We were jamming on some nugs the band all brought in and this was one of those Will brought it. We all had some ideas, but it was overall his baby. He has such a beautiful voice and giving it so much life it felt natural. He is a great songwriter; you should check out his old band the Mumlers and his current solo stuff under Will Sprott.
The eccentric sound of “Dali’s Clock” is such a delightful addition to the tracklist, but can you elaborate on the lyrics “Tick tock, Dali’s clock. What time could it be? You’re gone from me. You’re now the breeze. Wait, I need a second, didn’t agree. You are set free, like Lou Reed.”
Shannon Shaw: Joe was a farmer in addition to being a musician. I spent a lot of time on his family farm, especially after his death. This song is about the absurdity of life without him and coming to grips with where he is now. That concept of time and life has completely changed for me. WHAT IS IT? WHAT IS TIME WHAT IS LIFE? I kept asking myself this question. I was imagining the melted clocks in Dalí’s painting the Persistence of Memory. The ridiculousness of the melted clocks were haunting me. I had no choice in this matter and the tick tock I think captures that desperate feeling of wait wait I’m not ready yet. ‘Wait i need a second, i didn’t agree.’ Walking around on the farm feeling like he should be there, but he is ‘gone.’ I had a lot of moments staring at sunsets and really digging into nature and finding him there in certain ways. And struggling to find him in other ways. His mother who I love so much was very concerned that I was not a Catholic and was scared I didn’t think Joe went to heaven. It made me feel so sad that my lack of faith was haunting her. She and one of his sisters wanted to know where I thought he is now, so in a way this is my response to that as well. it was hard to be honest, I want to be very sensitive and thoughtful, and this was the best I could come up with. Our thoughts of where he is now doesn’t have to be so opposite of each other. We both believe he transcended. He’s not on a cloud, he IS the clouds. He is not in the sky he is the sky, he is the breeze, he’s the bees, he is the trees. There are no gates because he was set free. He is not trapped somewhere. He is everywhere, he is making life vibrate all around us.
As for the nod to Lou Reed, that was a song on the mix I refer to earlier called “I’m set free” by the Velvet Underground. I listened to that song so many times since he has died. It feels better to imagine him as set free than anything else. The way the song builds up and quiets down I can relate to. That’s what my feelings are doing, I vacillate between calm and accepting to an abundant roiling of emotions. The way the voices come together on the chorus really touch me. I imagine him soaring away or blasting off from this world at that part every time I listen to it. Lou Reed was very important to him.
He is not on a cloud, he IS the clouds. He is not in the sky, he IS the sky. He is the breeze, he is the bees, he is the trees…There are no gates because he was set free. He is everywhere, making life vibrate all around us.
What are some of your favorites from the new record, and are there any that you hope the listeners really connect with?
Shannon Shaw: I love every song on the new album so much but my favorite is Hourglass, So Lucky, Life in Unfair and Golden Brown.
Are there any new songs you are looking forward to playing on tour?
Shannon Shaw: All of them.
Lastly, who are you currently listening to that you would recommend to our readers?
Shannon Shaw: Rockin Horse, DION’s album Kickin’ Child.
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:: stream/purchase The Moon Is in the Wrong Place here ::
:: connect with Shannon & the Clams here ::
Stream: “Real or Magic” – Shannon & The Clams
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