He may or may not be related to NHL Hall of Fame defenceman King Clancy, but singer/guitarist Jonathan Clancy is definitely His Clancyness. At least, he was until recently. In the few years that passed since Clancy released Vicious, his 2013 debut album on FatCat Records, relentless touring has seen the line-up of His Clancyness solidified with drummer Jacopo Beta, synthesist Giulia Mazza and bassist Nico Pasquini, and their sound has never been richer.
Out now on Maple Death Records, the double A-side 7-inch single Pale Fear b/w Coming Up Empty marked the first time the whole band worked their synergy on tape. While Canadian ex-pat Clancy calls Italy home these days, and the song was partly developed in the wee hours at their now-retired basement Strange City Studios in Bologna, “Pale Fear” was mastered in Montreal after being recorded in Bristol by Stu Matthews (Beak, Anika) at Invada Studios, the home of Portishead. Though it lacks the hop, it has all the trip one could absorb in its dreamy, shoegazey noise-pop.
“Pale Fear” has a downward tumbling guitar melody paired with plodding drums and plaintive vocals delivering soul searching lyrics, yearning for personal transformation in order to survive modern city life, all of which is uplifted by a revolutionary hook with fuzz-blast guitar and dreamily droning synth. The theme is underscored by Giulia Mazza’s video, as a veiled figure rambles and flails about a city over the course of a day, turning into a Lost Boys extra as the daylight fades at the song’s bridge. Check it out now below.
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