Jeff Clarke

On June 9th 2023, Berlin-based Bretford Records released Locust, the new solo album from Jeff Clarke – a stripped-down, melancholic change of pace from the Canadian musician whose boisterous garage rock compositions with the bands Demon’s Claws, Hellshovel, and the Black Lips led to King Khan identifying him as one of the “unsung heroes of rock n’ roll.” This time out, Clarke’s sincere, poetic texts are accompanied only by his acoustic guitar. The warm, dreamy, minimalist folk sound is enhanced by the recordings themselves – all done in a single session, outdoors in a forest north of Berlin, Clarke’s adopted home since 2016. The concept for the intimate setting came from Lorenz Szukal, guitarist in legendary Berlin indierockers Chuckamuck and die Verlierer, who recognized that Clarke’s songwriting, which he had long admired, would be equally powerful when pared down and showcased in a different light. When the two took Szukal’s mobile recording equipment into the woods, the more naturalistic atmosphere revealed a mixture of light and shadow, fragility and resilience, pain and relief in the songs. And yet Locust is much more than a mere study in contrasts; harmonized by Clarke’s extraordinary writing, the thirteen songs of the album create a coherent ambiance in which Clarke’s voice – like the soft complaint of a lonesome wolf – blends with the vivid lyrical imagery, the subtle dynamics of his guitar playing, and an almost imperceptible echo to leave the listener in a daydream state. In daring to present his unique sensibility in such a raw, elemental setting, Locust marks a striking new direction and reveals Clarke to be a spiritual descendant of Townes van Zandt.