The worldly experiences of folk singer-songwriter Monique Clare have culminated in a new single, 'Better Now'.
The track lends itself to deep textures that shimmer with celebration, moving away from the focus of her 2017 EP, 'By The Stars'. "['By The Stars'] was very moody, angsty, going through emotional turmoil," Monique says."'Better Now' is two years on from that point; stepping away from that stuff has genuinely had such a good effect on my life.
"Since writing that song, I have had downward spiral of mental health and feel totally fraudulent getting on stage and singing this song – but I'm starting to realise it's very subliminal."
Monique is appreciative of the cyclical nature of being an emotionally creative type, and that in fact serves her music very well.
There's a depth of not just sonic interest, but personality, that by using her cello accentuates both Monique's musical style and her persona.
"In some ways it's really bloody annoying to write with [the cello] compared to guitar," she says, "because you can only play two notes at a time.
"It makes the songwriting weirdly challenging, but you've put yourself in a good creative box, needing to look for solutions.
"There're benefits to that problem – you can go from this rhythmic pattern to then playing something that's like a backing vocal line. It's really legato, melodic and harmonious with what I'm singing.
"I think that sound, it gives it more emotion and that's what resonates with people."
The limitations of the cello, then, provided more of a focus on Monique and her story. "And that’s terrifying," she says. "I have to pay attention to every moment and think, 'this one note that I'm playing right now, what's that going to communicate?'"
This consideration of her music has allowed Monique a plethora of opportunities in recent years. She's performed with everybody and their dog – Kate Miller-Heidke, The Whitlams, Katie Noonan, and Eminem among them – and represented Australia at last year's World Expo in Dubai.
"Cultures were colliding, it was deeply healing after the pandemic," says Monique of that experience. "It was a massive honour to present my take on Australian music."
What Monique has gained from those experiences has cultivated an opportunity to perform at this year's River Folk Festival in the Yarra Valley, that will be followed by the release of her full-length debut album, 'Sight'.
Again, Monique explains the album, which features 'Better Now', will sound the polar opposite to 'By The Stars'.
"The album, I wanted it to be a total explosion of everything I could possibly think of in my brain, and possibly make happen. I wrote thick, interweaving parts, recording a lot of it myself. I was throwing all the paint on.
"It's more a collection of songs and what I wanted to do with the arrangements of them, I wanted to create these different musical worlds, and the lyrics are sort of whatever they happen to be for the song.
"In future, I'd like to make an album with a lyrical theme, but this is more like, 'this is Monique Clare in her brain'. This is how it sounds inside my brain – I've made that happen so you can hear it too."
The River Folk Festival returns to Warburton (Yarra Valley) in 2022 running 30 September until 2 October.
The River Folk Festival 2022 Line-up
The Northern FolkCigány Weaver
Alana Wilkinson
Monique Clare
Rich Davies & The Low Road
Ruth Hazleton
Anna Smyrk
Liz Frencham
Above The Bit
Todd Cook
Tinman
Monique Clare 2022 Tour Dates
Fri 19 Aug - Peace Run Records (Sunshine Coast)Sat 20 Aug - The Junk Bar (Brisbane)
Fri 26 Aug - Dust Temple (Gold Coast)
Sat 27 Aug - The Little Poet (Byron Bay)
Sat 10 Sep - Coffs Harbour Conservatorium Fri 16 Sep - Studio 188 (Ipswich)
23-25 Sep - Goats Acoustic Sessions @ The GAS (Brooweena)
Fri 30 Sep - Caloundra Music Festival (Sunshine Coast)
25-27 Nov - Queenscliff Music Festival (Queenscliff)
