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CLAIRE ‘RASEINIAI’ EP OUT TODAY VIA ASTRALWERKS
ELECTRO POP BAND ANNOUNCE 30 MINUTE SHORT FILM AND EP SOUNDTRACK, BASED ON MYSTERIOUS EVENTS AFTER THEIR EQUIPMENT WAS STOLEN ON A UK TOUR
FILM TRAILER: https://youtu.be/SajcArA0RaA
Part 1: https://youtu.be/87oGJEcHaqs
Part 2:https://youtu.be/968UijUWZ_Q
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A robbery, a mysterious telephone call and a nightclub stormed by a special police unit – the eventful story of the making of Claire’s new EP has more twists and turns than most spy thrillers. However, what at first sounds like a Hollywood blockbuster actually all happened that way, and these real events inspired the Munich electro-pop band in the making of their evocative 6-track mini-epic Raseiniai. Raseiniai is available for purchase on iTunes HERE and streaming on Spotify HERE.
Just a year after the band was formed, Claire’s 2013 debut album, The Great Escape, made significant waves in the music scene in Europe: After their well-received support tours with Woodkid and Bastille, concerts at the renowned SXSW art and music festival in Austin, Texas, and the CMJ festival in New York, and a sold-out headline tour of clubs in Germany too, Claire have now released the Raseiniai EP, their first new material in over two years!
Raseiniai is the name of a provincial town somewhere in Lithuania. It is also the focal point of Claire’s EP of the same name, where singer Josie-Claire Bürkle, keyboardists Matthias Hauck and Nepomuk Heller, guitarist Florian Kiermaier and drummer Fridolin Achten work through their rollercoaster ride of experiences the previous year: in September 2014, during the band’s tour of the UK, their tour bus containing all their equipment was stolen in London. The authorities in Britain had already given up hope of solving this case when Claire received an anonymous phone call the following December, followed soon after by an anonymous e-mail providing information on where the stolen objects were being kept. Shortly before Christmas, the gangsters’ hideaway in Raseiniai, Lithuania, was stormed by the police and most of the stolen items were recovered. “We decided soon after our bus and equipment were stolen to work through what had happened in our music”, says frontwoman Josie with regard to Claire’s new EP. “We are extremely grateful to the nameless informant. He is our unknown hero, and we have dedicated the EP to him.”
Raseiniai is vivid, atmospheric music that you can dance to or sit down and listen to, somewhere along the spectrum between a soundtrack score and club tunes. However, the gesamtkunstwerk Raseiniai has even more to offer: in addition to the tracks on the EP, the band and the director Teresa Hoerl also came up with a narrative for a film that tells the story of the anonymous informant who made that phone call in December 2014. Why did he decide to reveal the location where the instruments were being stored? What happened in Raseiniai?
Starting with the floating, techno-like opener “What We Are Made Of”, continuing with the bittersweet floor-filler “Calling Out”, the track “The Secret” that is stuffed with warm, analogue sounds, right through to the dramatically crackling downbeat of “Open Arms” – Raseiniai grabs its audience and takes them on a real road trip: out into the Lithuanian backwaters, into mafia-like networks, into a story of loving, of breaking out and of freedom.
“The story was just asking to be made into a film”, adds guitarist Florian Kiermaier. “And since we had always wanted to write a soundtrack, this was the perfect opportunity!” The result was a vivid mix of strong vibes and synthetically created high tension that is eventually released on the driving “Collider” and the striking love song “Stay With You”. “This song is about two people imagining the amazing things that could happen. The last night before setting out together on fresh adventures”, says keyboardist Nepomuk Heller.
Later in the year, Claire will also be setting out on fresh adventures. The Raseiniai EP is Claire’s musical link between their well-received debut album The Great Escape and their second album, which will be released next year and is something that we can really look forward to.
Purchase Raseiniai on iTunes http://smarturl.it/Raseiniai
Stream Raseiniai on Spotify: http://smarturl.it/RaseiniaiSpotify
RASEINIAI Track Listing:
1.What We Are Made Of
2.Calling Out
3.The Secret Exchange
4.Open Arms
5.Collider
6.Stay With You
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 Photo: Christoph Schaller
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