ARTIST: Clare & The Reasons

“Ooh You Hurt Me So” by Clare & The Reasons is one of the best little surprises I’ve stumbled on in awhile. It’s off their brand new record, Arrow (their follow-up to 2007’s The Movie), a record that happens to be full of great little surprises. It plays like the soundtrack to a film in my head – one that’s character driven, but with lots of beautiful cinematic shots – the kind that stays with you long after you forget what it’s actually about.

The group, fronted by collaborators Clare and Olivier Manchon, fuse a whole slew of musical elements together to create a lush-but-understated sound that lies somewhere between French pop and the kind of 60’s throw-back that groups like Dr. Dog are exploring. They make use of just about every instrument at their disposal, juggling horns and strings with electronic blips and boops and fuzzy little guitar riffs – but their most evocative instrument is Clare and her lilting vocals, keeping every song right here on ground level so we can all get on. She sounds a little like Inara George of The Bird And The Bee, but with a much broader pop music history playing behind her. Stand out tracks “Ooh You Hurt Me So” and “You Getting Me” are below, but you also need to check out “Perdue a Paris”, “Murder, They Want Murder”, and the sprawling “Our Team Is Grand”. Shoot. Just listen to this whole record. It’s fun.

mp3: Clare & The Reasons – Ooh You Hurt Me So
from the album Arrow (iTunes/Amazon)

mp3: Clare & The Reasons – You Getting Me
from the album Arrow (iTunes/Amazon)