Today, we are sharing the new video from Josienne Clarke, ‘Fear of Falling’ watch it below. A delicately drawn track featuring Clarke’s exquisite vocal tone, replete with an Americana tinged backdrop of golden guitar motifs and gentle instrumental sways. It vividly “captures the struggle of leaving the past behind and embracing a brighter future.” Clarke explains “This song contains imagery from the beautiful place I now live, the Isle of Bute in Scotland. I walk along the harbour everyday and take in the sea air, it’s great for the soul and artistically inspiring. I take a deep breath of it and remind myself to leave the past where it belongs.”
Josienne Clarke is set to release her new album, Parenthesis, I, on 10th May via her own label, Corduroy Punk. On Parenthesis, I, Clarke has not only embraced her past but has also redefined herself in the present, presenting a body of work that is both timeless and deeply personal, and her best to date. “This is the sound of my journey to some kind of resolution, seeking and finding a safe path of my own,” she says.
As Clarke aptly states, “The songs and their themes are immensely personal to me, but more importantly, these themes may be relatable to others.” With lives characterised by complexity, nuanced feelings, and the slow, arduous process of growth, Parenthesis, I encapsulates Clarke’s journey to resolution, seeking and finding a safe path of her own.
Throughout her career, Josienne Clarke has been both a Rough Trade-signed artist and a BBC Radio 2 Folk Award-winner, two opposing poles that neatly sum up her inability to be pigeonholed. After the success of her 2019 solo record, In All Weather, and the indie-infused A Small Unknowable Thing in 2021, she released the EP I Promised You Light and the covers EEP Now & Then in 2022. In 2023 she released Onliness (songs of solitude and singularity) – a moment of personal reclamation, which saw her re-recording songs from her back catalogue. Now, she stands on the cusp of a new era with Parenthesis, I. Shimmering, warm, intimate, and profoundly heart-wrenching.
The album is a masterful journey through Clarke’s personal and musical evolution. On Parenthesis, I, she draws influence from folk greats Nick Drake and Sandy Denny, as well as more contemporary artists like Julia jacklin, Courtney Marie Andrews, Anaïs Mitchell and Lucy Dacus. “It encompasses all of my musical influences. You can hear flavours and textures from all the records I’ve put out in the last 5 years. After an interval I am presenting myself to the world, reworked, remade, anew” says Clarke, who produces all of her records, and also plays guitar, saxophone, clarinet and recorders throughout.
Photo credit: Alec Bowman-Clarke
