In 2020, Malina Claire broke away from her singer-songwriter, acoustic roots with experimental chamber pop track Window. Featuring a quaint, yet alluring simple grand piano melody supporting her minimal lyrics; the track had a way of using very little to draw listeners in. As she repeated lyrics “I’m here”, glistening strings and woodwind grew around her as her voice grew increasingly desperate; pleading for her lover to remember she was there with them. With the charm and vulnerability of Lana Del Rey and the production integrity of Wet, Window marked a new era for Malina Claire’s sound.
Now, 3 years later, Claire returns with a surprise; a secret sister single, produced around the same time, Hurt. Using the same ideas of minimal lyrics and sparse, spacious yet concentrated instrumental, Claire returns with yet another dreamy chamber pop ballad. Depicting the first moments after a connection with somebody has ended, Claire reflects on how the object of her affection doesn’t understand the depth of the pain they caused her. “Open up every door, like you were never there before.” She sings, describing how quickly a home can feel empty. “And I don’t know you like I want. You don’t see me at all” she sings, describing how her feelings hadn’t been reciprocated. “I wanted it all, but you hurt me bad” she repeats, signifying that the relationship cannot be mended.
“I wrote Hurt at a time when I was feeling very lonely. I was trying to date after experiencing my period of domestic violence and finding the whole process incredibly isolating and hard to navigate. I found when things didn’t work out, it hit me a lot harder that I had expected and I found it near impossible to work out if I was being treated well or how to communicate my needs; I had formed a pattern of making myself smaller to adapt to the needs of others. This lead to me using music as an outlet to better understand how I was feeling and move through them in a healthy way.” – Malina Claire
Co-produced and mixed by Zak Muller (Gladiolus, Maggie Elyse, The Colliflowers), the track began as a completely home-produced experiment made over the COVID-19 pandemic. With sounds shaped by the idea of loneliness, the track shows a new side to Claire and her knack for production as well as songwriting.
“I was very inspired by songs like Life my Montaigne and Casey’s Song by City and Colour and how there were only a few lines, yet the tracks still had the same emotional impact as any other song. I loved the idea of mantra based lyrics and used that in my approach to writing Hurt.” – Malina Claire
Elegant and alluring, Malina Claire invites you into her most vulnerable, darkest mindsets. With a taste for all things orchestral and introspective, she approaches her music with the poeticism of Leonard Cohen, the emotion of Fiona Apple and Elliot Smith’s knack for minimalism and great storytelling. Let her take you through her hardest moments, her inklings of hope and everything in between on her journey for self-discovery, emotional recovery and truth.
Formally known as Emily Jane, Malina has a humbling amount of success after the release of her ‘Behind Closed Doors’ EP, with single Behind Closed Doors making it to #13 Most Played on 4ZZZ the week of its release as well as debuting #66 on the triple j Unearthed chart. Follow-up track Yesterday’s Coffee also found success, making the leap from #100 to #44 on Unearthed in the matter of only 1 week!
