Toronto based avant space-folk singer and multi-instrumentalist Clara Engel is a seeker, whose questions are answered with a mix of poetry, spirituality and philosophy. Her latest album ic called Where a City Once Drowned: The Bethlehem Tapes Vol. II, featuring six meandering compositions about halfway Kate Bush and Astralingua. The songs were captured in one take, no small feat considering the complexity of the material, with just a few additional overdubs.
Nature in all its facets is her main source of inspiration, offering her safety and a means of escape to get away from the bustle and hustle of the big city she calls home. Maybe some day she will follow her dreams and settle down in the woods: "make me a home in the mountainside // where there's no cell phone tower // where wild goats climb // I wasn't born to fly //I'm a land animal".
Clara Engel: vocals, electric and slide guitar, guitalele, hammond organ, electric koto
Taylor Galassi: cello on all tracks
Tsinder Ash: voice and banjo on Land Animal
Brad Deschamps: ambient guitar drone on Mayfly Day and At Night They Race Through the Stars, bowed glockenspiel on Mayfly Day
Sylvia Haynes: ambient guitar and bass on Metamorphosis
Odile Aurora Strik: synth on Land Animal
Astor Wolfe: harmonium on Open A Door
Where a City Once Drowned: The Bethlehem Tapes Vol. II is a self-released album. Buy it (digital, CD) from her website.
Tracks:- Mayfly Day
- At Night They Race Through the Stars
- Baba Yaga
- Land Animal
- Metamorphosis
- Open a Door
