Clara Engel / Mine

Country of origin:

Canada

Type of music generally:

Bluesy, indie

Status:

Most recent release, Ghost Bird (with Bradley Sean Alexander, 2021)

See also:

Clara Engel's bandcamp site

Clare Engel's MySpace page

Comparisons:

Cat Power

Covers/own material:

Own

General comments:

Haunting, sparse, broken. This is utterly contemporary and homegrown. Its own genre, closer to blues than anything — not pop, not rock, not folk though with elements of all. (Neile)

Recommended first album:

A Lethal Blue is all we've heard so far

Recordings:

• A Lethal Blue (2004)
• Jump of Flame (2005)
• Cousin Mary EP (2006)
• Clara Engel (2006)
• Tender (2008)
• Raphael (Live at Tapestry Studio, EP, 2008)
• Secret Beasts (2009)
• The Bethlehem Tapes (2010)
• Clara Engel sings two songs by Jason Molina (live bootleg, 2012)
• The Lovebird's Throat (EP, 2012)
• Ashes & Tangerines (2014)
• Looking-Glass Fire (EP, 2014)
• We Are Not Here (soundtrack EP, 2015)
• What Should We Leave for the Monster Tonight? (single, 2016)
• Visitors Are Allowed One Kiss (EP, 2016)
• Your Halo is a Swarm of Bees (2016)
• Remixes (2016)
• Arctic Poppies (EP, 2017)
• Songs for Leonora Carrington (EP, 2017)
• Vigils (EP, 2017)
• curl into smoke and sleep beside the stream (EP, 2017)
• Stars, Reptiles, Microorganisms (2018)
• Where a City Once Drowned: The Bethlehem Tapes Vol. II (2019)
• In the Fog (EP, 2018)
• Eleven Passages (2018)
• A Shore Far from Any Prison (EP, 2018)
• Little Blue Fox (EP, 2019)
• Hatching Under the Stars (2020)
• A New Skin (2020)
• Ghost Bird (with Bradley Sean Alexander, 2021)

A Lethal Blue

Release info:

2004—Record Error Records

Availability:

Unknown

Ecto priority:

Recommended for fans of stripped-down indie music

Group members:

Clara Engel—vocals, guitar
Matt Russo—guitar

Guest artists:

Alex Vickers—cello on 2 tracks

Comments:

A Lethal Blue is stripped down to the point of haunting naked emotion. It's just Clare Engel's aching vocals and two guitars. I don't know if she's singing about broken hearts or broken lives, but it's moody, dark, dreamy, yearning. She has a Siberry-ish voice. Not too concerned with prettifying anything, but tuneful. (Neile)