"I found a way to fly higher than a balloon..."
There are songs that are great because they grab you by the throat and don't let go and there are songs that are great because they take you on sonic journeys that you don't expect and in doing so you feel like you discover things about yourself. I call these types of songs expansive. "Over the Moon" by Paper Citizen , the divergent indie project led by Boston bred, Los Angeles based Singaporean singer-songwriter, violinist, guitarist, and music producer, Claire Gohst is one hell of a fucking expansive piece of art. The interesting thing is that you realize this quickly while listening to this artful track. From the onset, Claire's electric guitar tones and shapes are as dreadfully sad as they are gorgeous and, only (about) 8 second's in. her shape shifts on a beautifully moving slide that drifts off the patterns into another direction. The touches of psychedelia take on a classical feel as if the guitar was a grand piano. Already I feel invested not knowing where Paper Citizen will take me.
When a kick drum, interesting wooden sounding percussion, pulsating waves of textured synths and Claire's vocals, that are intimately rendered like she is crooning in your ear but still positioned in the pocket of the mix, washes over you. As the song grows it feels like a crush of baroque pop and elegant art rock and then the first dash down the first rabbit hole happens. This change brought a big smile on my face. As the beat doubles down, a kind of proto disco / dance tone happens and for some reason I flashed on the soundtrack for Baz Luhrman's 1996 "William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet". The twist and the delicious bass line inject a sad funky soul pop vibe with mellotron tones in tow makes the song more surreal. It shifts back with layers of backing vox and a glorious ascending art rock-ian thing happens that feels like one hundred foot high red velvet curtains opening. During the tasty, cool guitar down and off beats propel the journey you might get lost in Claire's emotional vocal performance, she can croon, wail, do it all effortlessly in an extremely dynamic way, even when it feels ethereal her voice is grounded, anchored in a real earthbound way that crushes expectations.
This grand big emotional coda is so beautiful that before you realize the song is over you are waiting for the next surprise. "Over the Moon" is that kind of experience. It is also the kind of song that pushes such artful buttons in my brain. It begs for repeated listens and dissections and I did think about artists like Saint Vincent, Queen, Stina Nordenstam, Bowie, Prince and Soko. "Over the Moon" is Paper Citizen's follow up to her highly acclaimed 2021 album, "Wandering Gohst". If you find this track as intriguing as I do, delve into Claire's other imaginings and, as always, if you love what she and Paper Citizen is offering, support her by purchasing her artful creations, going to shows and keeping her and PC going for many years to come. Paper Citizen is currently working on their upcoming EP "Distraction".
-Robb Donker Curtius
FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM - PRESS NOTES:
https://www.facebook.com/papercitizen/
https://papercitizen.bandcamp.com/
https://www.instagram.com/papercitizen/
https://www.tiktok.com/@papercitizen
Paper Citizen is a Boston-based indie rock project led by Singaporean singer-songwriter, violinist, guitarist and music producer, Claire Gohst. The music blends crisp vocals with lyrical intimacy, spacious guitars and organic rhythms.
Born and raised in Singapore, Claire started out playing the piano and violin at a young age, studying classical music. She taught her first violin lesson at 16. Soon after, Claire decided to pursue music full-time after finishing Secondary School. That was when she began performing gigs all around Singapore since 2004, playing folk/acoustic/rock originals and covers with her first local band, Zsa+Claire.
She made the move to Boston in 2013 to pursue training in the recording arts and to immerse herself in the rich history of American music. The melding of her artistic message honed with these musical influences and technological skills gathered over the next few years resulted in the indie-rock project, Paper Citizen.
Paper Citizen is now in the middle of recording their 2nd EP, titled Distraction. This album is inspired by very personal experiences had in the last 5 years, such as learning the difference from eastern to western cultures, discovering new music, falling in love, heartbreak, the feeling of loneliness, and making steps to adopt Boston as her new home away from home. While being very personal, thematically Paper Citizen also draws from trends observed in present society, such as the dynamic between the constant interconnectedness that modern technology provides, and on the other hand, the deep sense of isolation and increasing difficulty to connect with others.
Paper Citizen was voted Deli Magazine’s “New England Emerging Artist of the Month” for October 2016, and was nominated in the 2017 New England Music Awards for the category New Act of the Year. Nominated for the 2018 Boston Music Awards "617 Sessions Artist of the Year".
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Paper Citizen, alt rock, indie rock, blendo rock, art rock, guitarist, violinist, composer, vocalist, singer songwriter, Claire Gohst, producer, Boston, Los Angeles, "Over the Moon", album "Wandering Gohst",
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