In honor of Women’s History Month, Atwood Magazine has invited artists to participate in a series of essays reflecting on identity, music, culture, inclusion, and more.
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Today, Friend of a Friend’s singer and songwriter Claire Molek shares five key women artists who have inspired her and shaped her path as an artist in a special piece for Atwood Magazine’s Women’s History Month series!
Friend of a Friend, the duo of Claire Molek and Jason Savsani, return this April with their third album, ‘Desire!’ The record is an expansive and layered exploration of yearning, transformation, and connection, infused with the strange and unsettling energy of the place where it was recorded. Known for their unique blend of cinematic synthscapes, tactile rhythms, and raw, emotive vocals, the duo pushes their sound and thematic scope further than ever before in a record that feels at once haunted and alive.
On ‘Desire!,’ Friend of a Friend refine their sonic identity while embracing an expanded palette that balances the cinematic with the intimate. The duo describes the record as a culmination of lessons learned from their previous works – ‘In Arms’ and ‘FACILITIES’ – pushing their sound into new, more deliberate territory. “We’ve always played with big ideas, but this time we focused on clarity,” Claire explains. “We wanted every layer, every texture to serve the narrative.”
With ‘Desire!,’ Friend of a Friend capture their evolution as musicians and storytellers, offering a record that lingers in the spaces between tension and beauty. The result is an immersive and deliberate work, one that showcases their musical innovation and their ability to create a vivid, otherworldly sense of place – haunting and cinematic, like stepping into a film where every sound carries a story.
‘Desire’ is out April 25th via Earth Libraries. Listen to Friend of a Friend’s latest releases wherever you stream music, and read more about Claire Molek’s inspirations and influences in her special Women’s History Month piece below!
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FIVE WOMEN ARTISTS WHO SHAPED ME
by Claire Molek
There is no art that lives outside its context.
With our upcoming album release next month, I’ve been thinking a lot about how the musicians have shaped and healed me over the years – especially the women artists who helped inspire me to stand on stage. My world and life are both better because of their work and I hold this reality close to my heart. Thank you, mothers!
Rosalía
Motomami is my favorite record that has come out in a very long time, and I would say that Rosalía’s body of work has completely changed the way I understand music. She is without a doubt one of the greatest artists of all time. I think her work should be a required course at any music school – to me there is music pre Rosalía and post Rosalía. She is the GOAT of GOATS.
FKA Twigs
FKA Twigs has been a major inspiration to me since she released LP1. Tahliah’s level of vocal control and physical discipline are beyond comprehension, everything she does is so magnificent and graceful and earth shattering all at the same time.
Clara Rockmore
I listened to so much Clara Rockmore this year that Spotify started to think I was only into operatic music. It is my dream to sound like a theremin. My favorite compilation is Music In and On The Air.
Kim Gordon
Kim Gordon is mother and is still changing the game after all these years. Her new record is unbelievable. I have “Bye bye” on repeat. She is punk AF and I hope to be as cool as her some day.
Alison Mosshart
A really pivotal moment in my life happened watching Alison Mosshart just absolutely destroy an intimate set with The Kills where I felt like I could dance for the first time and like I had permission to be myself and I will never forget that and always be grateful to her. She’s one of the most electric performers I’ve ever seen.
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