Hot on the heels of her September single, a tough, tight ‘Long Gone’, Toronto-based retro-soul artist CLAIRE DAVIS follows through with a new uplifting and optimistic single ‘Times Have Changed’. The song came together collaboratively with some of Canada’s best in the Soul and R&B field. Toronto production house Safe Spaceship (Scott McCannell, Chino de Villa, and Ben MacDonald) composed the music who then brought the track to Davis to compose the melody and lyrics with the help of Kyla Charter. La-Nai Gabriel completed the track with a powerful horn arrangement – performed by Northern Soul Horns (Arkells). Staying true to a retro sound, the bedtracks of ‘Times Have Changed’ were laid down to a 1- inch 8-track tape machine, using Davis’s first vocal take in the final mix.
That’s the technical stuff but maybe more important is the feeling and message in the music. Claire says: “The lyrics are a very real account of me trying to figure out my path in life- realizing that I am the one who needs to break toxic cycles in my family and be in charge of my own healing for myself and future generations. There’s a lot of pain in that newfound awareness but the more I’ve invested in myself, the more hopeful I’ve become.” And the lovely lithe production, arrangement and Claire’s vocal all add to the feeling of hope and optimism. In some ways, the tune reminds me of those songs that Aussie soul bird Kylie Auldist recorded with the Bamboos and Cookin’ On Three Burners.
We believe that Claire’s very lovely ‘Times Have Changed’ will be available digitally from November 18th and will eventually be one side of a 7”single. Find out more @ https://lrkrecords.bandcamp.com/
