Here at #TEAMw21 Towers we like to think ourselves as the archivists of UK Americana and deep in the vaults there are all sorts of blasts from the past. In a bizarre piece of serendipity a flier from an old show attended in 2016 fell out onto our desk. The headliners on the night were the much missed Lewis & Leigh, supported by Bess Atwell who released the album "Light Sleeper" earlier this year, however the evening started with what seemed to be an outrageous young talent called Clarissa Mae. She played and if memory serves us well her parents were onlooking and even as a tender teenager looked like someone we should keep an eye on. Naturally we completely forgot to do so until the aforementioned flier popped out as luck would have it on the very day that Clarissa had a new single out and what is more all the promise she showed that night has more than blossomed into a rather fine recording artist!
It is noticeable that her blurb on the flier includes a testimonial from none other than London Mayor Sadiq Khan. So looks like we have a few years of catching up to do but we can start by reviewing Clarissa's excellent new single "Puzzle Piece"
A delightful mixture of acoustic guitar and strings go to make a most affecting new single as it asks one of the eternal questions - Is there someone out there for me? Clarissa ponders this in a most inventive way seeing that person as the missing piece that will make her complete, her vocals perfectly capturing that sense of bewilderment and uncertainty.
"Stay with me tonight
So I could feel warm, just please hold me tight?
Be the one for me I'm so lost at the moment,
Holding a puzzle missing a piece
Maybe it’s a mistake
Everyone around me is in love and that's okay
What if I don’t have a "love of my life"
The chorus is where everything seems to make sense yet it all seems so out of reach
"But tell me why, when I look into his eyes
Everything makes sense
It’s like I know who I am,
I do not need to play pretend
Everything is clear, because of him, I am better
He makes me feel like there’s no other
What if he holds the puzzle piece?"
It all leads to eternal internal thinking and self doubt
"What if I don't even have a puzzle piece?
It’s all in my head can’t help to overthink it"
It's a beautiful single with a wonderful accompanying video, Clarissa showing herself to have a clear vision as well as a clear sound for her material. She has truly gone on to fulfil all that promise shown in a church at Christmas 8 years ago.
Puzzle Piece video
A quick flick through Clarissa's catalogue also found this little gem from a darker time in all our lives, once again showing great invention
Locked Down
In case you wanted to know quite what is was that impressed us so much on the night we can thank Live Music Archivist Martin Cox for capturing this moment on the night.