Is it just me or are there Weeds growing everywhere. Definitely the cultural / political climate has seemed to let weeds flourish. Everyone is at odds with each other. There are icons of hate in high places and yet we have to persevere and not be afraid to press forward and do the right thing in all aspects of our lives.
Persephone is the debut album of Swedish / American singer-songwriter Clara Strauch. The album was recorded at Homefry Studios in Brooklyn, New York.
Weeds offer a glimpse into this album inspired by the myth of Persephone, the queen of the underworld in Greek mythology whose fate of eternal traveling created the seasons. Beautiful, dreamy stuff.
”Weeds”, which is a pop ballad on piano, featuring sincere, strong vocals accompanied by ethereal strings and trumpet. ”Weeds” is a song about dealing with what we’ve been trying to avoid — "where the weeds grow" — and how petrifying, yet inevitable, it is to break free from a lie. Our sorrows can be portals to our strengths. For Strauch, this especially resonates with coming out of the closet. ”Weeds”
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Robb Donker
The FACTS:
Clara Strauch leads a life of contrasts. She grew up on the Swedish island of Gotland in the Baltic
Sea, where she befriended the piano at age five, and began songwriting and guitar playing in her
early teens. At eighteen she moved alone to her father’s hometown of New York City, to study
acting and singing at NYU Tisch School of the Arts. During this time, she released the EP Doda,
played shows in both North and South America, and was featured on Swedish national radio.
After five years of hectic city life, she felt the need to return to her peaceful island, and she now
splits her time between the two countries — like Persephone. This ongoing bi-cultural
smörgåsbord feeds her poetic, sincere, storytelling songs in which her warm, wide-ranged voice
explores playful ways of songwriting and singing. Her lyrics often tell stories of loss and the
process of letting go of past illusions in order to come home to oneself, such as ”Weeds.”
With a background in theater, Strauch has composed scores for the plays Love’s Labour’s Lost at
Romateatern — Sweden’s biggest Shakespeare theatre — and The Tempest at Smith Street
Stage in Brooklyn, NY. For the latter she was nominated for Outstanding Original Music at The
NYITAwards. With Romateatern, she has recently developed a theatre and music program for
integration of refugees in Sweden. Strauch has also written the folk musical Wayward Home - A
Musical Folktale in collaboration with playwright Maizy Scarpa. Inspired by Noah’s Ark and
migration stories, it has been produced at Hubbard Hall and Stella Adler Studio of Acting in New
York, and The Stonington Opera in Maine.
