What would it sound like if your journal could sing?
What would transpire if each heartbreak took lyrical form, and every intimate confession was transformed into soaring notes, in a crescendo of self-discovery and an honesty that can only be revealed through time and a ready pen?
It might sound something like Claudia Combs Carty’s Phases.
The nine-track set, dropping October 22nd, is Carty’s first, and is so named because the bulk of it was written over the course of a decade. Each song marks a timeline of relationship dramas, highs and lows, including the single “Don’t Blame Me,” the first song Carty ever wrote more than 10 years ago. Having performed these songs for friends and family for years, she’s now releasing them for the rest of the world to nod in recognition with, to cry and sing along to.
It was always her dream to release an album, although the motivation and confidence to do so has “ebbed and flowed,” she says. But inspiration was constant, like, “This one guy I was with in my hometown, who ended up marrying some girl, and it felt like the worst thing that ever happened to me.”
She chuckles knowingly.
“It wasn’t.”
Those experiences have created a vulnerable showcase of piano and voice that is at once relatable and singular. Carty’s influences include songwriter Will Oldham, who performs as Bonnie “Prince” Billy, and “sounds like he’s croaking, like his voice is breaking because there’s so much heart, so much passion in it.”
Others include Stevie Nicks, “who doesn’t sound like anyone else, and is herself through and through,” and the late Jeff Buckley; all of the artists who inspire her “sound so raw and real,” she explains. That makes sense – like those artists, Carty reveals her pain and uncertainty to produce something warm, sometimes uncomfortably relatable.
Phases was recorded at Oakland, CA’s 25th Street Recording Studios. Carty’s sister, industry veteran Montserrat Carty, introduced her to a team that included producer Avi Vinocur, of the band Goodnight, Texas, whose songs have been heard in documentaries like “Tiger King” and “Free Solo,” and has a day job working with Metallica. During the session, which was supposed to have included five songs but ended with 10, Vinocur added guitar and vocal embellishments but also developed a deep connection to Carty and her work that made her comfortable with allowing someone else inside such a personal expression.
Today Glide is excited to offer an exclusive premiere of “You Make Me Wanna Stay,” one of the standout tracks on the new record. Accompanied by a sparse yet dramatic piano arrangement, Carty sings with a commanding sense of soul, pop and pure emotion. Her vocals are clearly the star of the show, but she also demonstrates a lyrical depth that shows her level of wisdom as a songwriter. Musically, there is something timeless to song that might be due in part to the stripped down combination of piano and vocals. It’s admirable how catchy this song is, and it shows a sense of strength and daring on the part of Carty to put her vocals front and center.
LISTEN:
What inspired you to write this song? What is the story behind it? What is it about? Who made you want to stay?
“You Make Me Wanna Stay” is a bit different from most of my songs in that it is coming from a hopeful heart. My songwriting most often finds me when I’m feeling down, angry, or working something out. This song is simply about loving someone enough that they maybe make the mundane tolerable or give you a reason to stay put, something I’ve struggled with a lot of my life. This song was written about a really wonderful person who I loved a lot, and who ironically, I moved very far away from not a long time after I wrote this song. That goes to show my feelings have been known to be temperamental, though it’s something I’ve worked hard to overcome.
Do you consider this song — and your music in general — a place for you to work through things that are weighing on you or that you are trying to process? Do you find songwriting therapeutic? Did writing this song bring you solace or peace in any way?
In terms of my music and songwriting in general, I would definitely say it is my outlet for feelings and certainly a place I go to work things out. That’s been the case since before my age was in the double digits. It has been natural for me to channel emotion through songwriting as it’s a muscle I’ve always worked, however I’m more comfortable in the problematic space while songwriting. I have found that I write much less when I’m doing okay, and much more when I’m dealing with shit. I talk about music being my therapy all the time. I like to think of writing music as therapy because it’s like getting to talk to a deep part of yourself, one that sometimes surprises you in funny and not so funny ways. Sometimes, things just come out of me through melody, and I think, “Damn, I had no idea I felt that way.” Releasing this album is very therapeutic for me because I’m finally letting go of these stories to the world, stories that are very deeply a part of me and the path I’ve walked.
What do you hope listeners hear in its music and lyrics?
I hope they hear a feeling. I hope it makes them think about a time they were inspired by love. I hope they can remember a time someone made them want to stop and settle and get all wrapped up in being in love.
This song is from your forthcoming album. What made you want to release this song into the world before the album comes out?
This song represents what this whole album is about for me. Something raw, real, emotional, and all-natural. Me and my piano singing some feelings to you. I chose this song because it’s one of a few songs on the record that was undoctored and simple, just one straight-through recording of my performance of this song. I want people to recognize the emotion and feeling here and expect that from the rest of the album.
Photo credit: Colin Peck
