Lye Marlow

Lye Marlow is a passion project for songwriter/producer Clare Moses. Clare is a classically trained cellist, and jazz-influenced vocalist, who, since finishing school at NYU’s Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music in Tisch, has found her niche producing unapologetically genre-bending, industrial Synth pop under the name Lye Marlow.

The name Lye Marlow is inspired by the character Charlie Marlow from Joseph Conrad’s novel “Heart Of Darkness”, who tells a lie in order to preserve - or rather fabricate an important sense of honor and romance where it never existed. It represents fantasy as something that is both necessary and dangerous. Lye is also a deadly chemical that is used to make soap, and the mythology of the name speaks to that idea - that sometimes what appears to cleanse can also poison. Lye Marlow should provide a window into a world that is as unpredictable and threatening as it is intriguing. There is a reckless freedom in her expression, but also a sober thoughtfulness - with a youthful irreverence and an affinity for grit, she is intrigued by the grotesque and the ugly, but is excited by the prospect of finding obscure beauty in both.

Lye Marlow’s lush and delicate vocals, interrupted by screaming synths and choked percussion create a soundscape that is both agitated and sensual. The music treads the line between being dreamy and demented, borderline abrasive even, but not alienating. The lyrics are reflective and emotionally potent, with sing-able melodies that weave playfully in and out of the complicated tracks. Lye Marlow will draw you in with a whisper, and then surprise you with a scream - it’s gritty pop music that dismisses convention almost entirely, and it’s really exciting.