Clarence Clarity

Clarence Clarity is an English singer, songwriter, producer, and musician.[2] He has been praised for his unique, eclectic pop sound which was described by The Guardian as "funk played by a swarm of bees",[2] and is noted for his high degree of anonymity regarding his life outside of making music.

Clarence Clarity
Birth nameAdam Mark Crisp
BornLondon, England
Genres
Instruments
Years active2012–present
Labels
Associated acts
Websiteclarenceclarity.com

Career

Clarity previously played with several other bands in the 2000s, but decided to start anew under the name "Clarence Clarity" after he made clarity his mantra for the project.[3]

His first release under the name was 4GODSLUV[4] in 2012, and he subsequently released his debut EP Save †hyself on the 37 Adventures label in late 2013. At this point in his career, Clarity held anonymity in every aspect of his life, leading to rumours that he was from Fiji or that his music was a new Jai Paul project. He revealed in a later interview that neither of these was true and that he was in fact from England, but also provided misinformation on other aspects of himself.[5]

In December 2014, Clarity released his second EP, Who Am Eye, now on the Bella Union label. The album cover features his face with a distorted mouth and removed some more of the anonymity behind the project.[5][6] In March 2015, he released his first full-length album, No Now, and also performed a session at Maida Vale Studios for Huw Stephens on BBC Radio 1.[7] In 2016, Clarence released a single with Pizza Boy, "Splitting Hairs", and the SAME EP, which consists of the titular track "SAME" repeated 5 times.[8]

During 2017, Clarity helped produce Rina Sawayama's debut mini-album, RINA.[9] He also began releasing singles with minimal or no advertising, such as "Fold 'Em"[10] and "Naysayer Godslayer".[11] He continued this trend into 2018, as it was revealed that he was working on a project which was widely believed to be called Leave Earth. In September 2018, the album title was revealed to be labelled Think: Peace,[12] and was released independently on his Deluxe Pain label on 4 October 2018.[13] This album featured many of the previously released singles in remixed forms. Clarity also revealed that Leave Earth was actually a compilation playlist consisting of all his singles released from 2016 to 2018,[14] and continued to release singles for this playlist in pairs up until 31 December that year, finishing by releasing "Leave Earth"[15] and "Sob Story".[16]

On 20 March 2020 Clarity released an ambient album, Dead Screen Scrolls, as a pay-what-you-want on Bandcamp;[17] announcing an album was to be released only an hour previous.[18]

Clarence is presumed to be working on a project called Midieval Europe. He has mentioned it will be much more short-form than his previous albums.[19] He contributed a significant amount of the production for Rina Sawayama's debut album, Sawayama.[20]

Personal life

Not much is known about Clarity, his past, or his family; partly due to his use of red herrings, such as stating that he was 7 ft tall and that his favourite food was mud.[21] Clarity has acknowledged that he was in other musical projects before creating music under his current stagename. When asked about this by The Guardian, he replied with "Yeah, I've got a musical history, and I suppose I don't want to have to justify why certain things in the past haven't taken off. I've wiped the slate clean a couple of times. It all feels necessary to have got here."[22]

Clarity has said that the lack of public information about him is intended to allow listeners to "paint a picture of who Clarence Clarity is first", and that "I'll introduce bits of myself as we go",[23] but also has stated that he did not originally intend to maintain his now characteristic degree of anonymity.[24]

Discography

Studio albums
Title Album Details
No Now
Think: Peace
  • Released: 4 October 2018[13]
  • Label: Deluxe Pain
  • Formats: Digital download
Dead Screen Scrolls (Ambient Works, Vol. 1)
  • Released: 20 March 2020[17]
  • Label: Self-Released
  • Formats: Digital download
Midieval Europe
  • Released: TBA

Compilations
Title Compilation Details
Leave Earth
  • Released: 2016 - 31 December 2018
  • Label: Deluxe Pain / Self-Released
  • Formats: Digital download

Extended plays
Title EP Details
Save †hyself
  • Released: 2013
  • Label: 37 Adventures
  • Formats: Digital download, 12" Single
Who Am Eye
  • Released: 2014
  • Label: Bella Union
  • Formats: Digital download, 12" Single
SAME
  • Released: 2016
  • Label: Deluxe Pain
  • Formats: Digital download
Vapid Feels Are Vapid / SAME
  • Released: 2016
  • Label: Deluxe Pain
  • Formats: Digital download

Singles
Title Year Album
4GODSLUV 2012 Non-album singles
KADYクソPERRY
Alive in the Septic Tank 2013 Save †hyself
The Gospel Truth
Those Who Can't, Cheat 2014 Who Am Eye
Buck-Toothed Particle Smashers (ft. Kill J) 2015 No Now
Will to Believe
Cancer™ In The Water (A.J. Crew edit) 2016 Non-album singles
Splitting Hairs (ft. Pizza Boy)
Now I Am Become Death (Vocal Version)
SAME SAME
W€ CHANG€ (Merch CD Version) 2017 Non-album singles
Fold 'Em (ft. Shadi) Think: Peace
Naysayer Godslayer
Next Best Thing 2018
Adam & The Evil
Rafters (ft. A.J. Crew) Leave Earth
1985
Telenovela
Del Ray Dreamhouse
Untrust In Us Together
Anthropic Principles
Bipolar Rainbows
DEAFENING RED
Sob Story
Leave Earth

References
  1. "'THINK: PEACE' is R&B Eccentric Clarence Clarity's poppiest record yet". Ballstate Daily. 18 October 2018. Archived from the original on 21 October 2018. Retrieved 21 October 2018.
  2. "Clarence Clarity (No 35)". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 26 March 2015.
  3. Subscribe. "Clarence Clarity: The man, the mystery". DIY. Archived from the original on 9 February 2019. Retrieved 9 February 2019.
  4. 4GODSLUV
  5. "Clarence Clarity". The Line of Best Fit. Archived from the original on 27 June 2018. Retrieved 9 February 2019.
  6. "Clarence Clarity announces WHO AM EYE EP, streams first track". The Line of Best Fit. Archived from the original on 27 June 2018. Retrieved 9 February 2019.
  7. Subscribe. "Clarence Clarity plays Maida Vale session for Radio 1". DIY. Archived from the original on 11 August 2015. Retrieved 9 February 2019.
  8. "SAME EP - Clarence Clarity". SoundCloud.com. Retrieved 10 February 2019.
  9. "Rina Sawayama and Clarence Clarity team up for haywire anthem "Alterlife"". The Line of Best Fit. Archived from the original on 10 February 2019. Retrieved 9 February 2019.
  10. "Clarence Clarity teases second record Leave Earth with tormented-soul single "Fold 'Em"". The Line of Best Fit. Archived from the original on 11 May 2018. Retrieved 9 February 2019.
  11. ""Naysayer Godslayer" is the new deranged R&B jam from Clarence Clarity". The Line of Best Fit. Archived from the original on 9 February 2019. Retrieved 9 February 2019.
  12. Clarity, Clarence (4 September 2018). "My 2nd album is called THINK: PEACE and it will be out in one month". @clarenceclarity. Retrieved 9 February 2019.
  13. THINK: PEACE, archived from the original on 10 February 2019, retrieved 9 February 2019
  14. Clarity, Clarence (4 October 2018). "Leave Earth". @clarenceclarity. Retrieved 9 February 2019.
  15. Leave Earth, archived from the original on 9 February 2019, retrieved 9 February 2019
  16. Sob Story, archived from the original on 9 February 2019, retrieved 9 February 2019
  17. "DEAD SCREEN SCROLLS | Clarence Clarity". Bandcamp. 20 March 2020. Archived from the original on 2 May 2020. Retrieved 20 March 2020.
  18. Clarity, Clarence (20 March 2020). "I've been waiting for the right time to release an ambient album. Today is that day". @clarenceclarity. Archived from the original on 21 March 2020. Retrieved 20 March 2020.
  19. "r/indieheads - CLARENCE CLARITY - HI! ASK ME ANYTHING". reddit. Retrieved 9 February 2019.
  20. "Rina Sawayama Announces Tour and Debut Album, Shares New Song: Listen". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on 8 April 2020. Retrieved 20 March 2020.
  21. Dunn, Francesca (19 February 2015). "2, 4, 6, 8… we appreciate clarence clarity". I-D. Archived from the original on 12 February 2019. Retrieved 10 February 2019.
  22. McQuaid, Ian (3 January 2015). "Clarence Clarity: 'I feel too normal'". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 12 February 2019. Retrieved 10 February 2019.
  23. "Clarence Clarity". The Line of Best Fit. Archived from the original on 27 June 2018. Retrieved 10 February 2019.
  24. Subscribe. "Clarence Clarity: The man, the mystery". DIY. Archived from the original on 9 February 2019. Retrieved 10 February 2019.
  25. "ALBUM BIO: Clarence Clarity - NO NOW [Bella Union] (Out Monday, 2 March 2015)". Mushroom Promotions. 8 February 2015. Archived from the original on 16 February 2019. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
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