Shannon and The Clams have released another single from their forthcoming album, The Moon Is In The Wrong Place, out on May 10. “Real Or Magic,” like the rest of the album, was borne of personal tragedy for singer-bassist Shannon Shaw after her fiancé was killed in a car accident before their wedding. The resulting work, while devastating, is also a beautiful look into the aftermath of tragedy, healing, and togetherness.
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“Real Or Magic” was written by Shaw after she experienced a vision of her late fiancé bathed in light. Blending doo-wop and psych-rock, as is the band’s signature, it creates an existential look through reality into the world of dreams and magic. The single is contemplative and surreal, as is the accompanying music video.
Shannon and The Clams Take a Surrealist Trip Through the Reality of Loss in “Real Or Magic”
Was it real? ask The Clams, and Shaw responds, It was so real. The song is a heartbreaking ode to love and loss, of missing a person so deeply that life doesn’t feel like reality. The video is bathed in dreamy pastels and vintage vibes, featuring Shaw as a “holographic prom queen,” as described in a press release. Her dog, Spanky-Joe even makes a cameo.
With previous singles such as the space-age title track, “The Moon Is In The Wrong Place” and the blissful jamboree jam “Bean Fields,” Shannon and The Clams are poised to release their most inspired, vulnerable, and raw album yet. Although it was made under tragic circumstances, Shannon Shaw has taken her grief and spun it, spider-like, into a psychedelic-surrealist exploration of carrying on.
Shannon and The Clams will be on tour this year in support of the album, beginning on April 7 in Hot Springs, Arkansas and concluding on October 19 in Oakland, California. Along the way they’ll hit stops in Boston, Brooklyn, DC, Nashville, Chicago, Portland, and Seattle, among many others.
Featured Image via YouTube/Easy Eye Records
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