Natalia Clavier's Haunting and Comforting Album "Lumen"
Natalia Clavier releases new album and is touring with Thievery Corporation.
June 13, 2013— -- From Buenos Aires to Barcelona to Brooklyn, Natalia Clavier has traveled the world living and performing as a singer and musician.
After spending eight years in Barcelona's jazz scene, Clavier and her husband, fellow Argentinean musician Federico Aubele, moved to the states to record his second album, Panamericana, which is how she met Rob Garza and Eric Hilton from Thievery Corporation.
Aubele was on ESL Records, the home to Thievery, and in 2007 when they were looking for a female vocalist to perform some of their songs that they hadn't been able to do live, Clavier offered herself for an audition. After performing just the first verse of the first song, Garza and Hilton interrupted her with a: "Hired!"
Clavier laughs saying, "I was like 'Oh man! They didn't even let me sing the whole thing!' I was nervous for like four days."
Since joining the Thievery Corporation family -- they just performed last weekend's Governor's Ball in NYC -- Clavier has released two solo albums. The first album, Nectar, was produced by Hilton of Thievery and was entirely in Spanish. Her just-released album, Lumen, was produced by Grammy award-winner Adrian Quesada and features a song with Quesada's new band, the Echocentrics (with whom she has collaborated with in the past).
Lumen has a very '60s psychedelic sound. It's almost impossible to not do the monkey within the first ten seconds of "Adios", a cover of an 1976 song by cult Turkish singer Selda Bagcan. The Turkish influence places you in a bar with red lights and so much smoke you can barely make out the face of the person in front of you.
Another song from the album, "Nada," is like listening to reggae on foggy stormy night in a cemetery.There's something haunting about the echo in the song, yet the reggae beat makes you sway back and forth in a daze. "Cantata," on the other hand, has a sweet, peppy beat that you won't be able to get out of your head -- it feels like you're stuck in Megan Draper's dreams. The dark undertone in Clavier's music is hidden under her sweet and lively voice. It's like the music is taking you to that darker place but her voice is pulling you toward the light. It's a great album to listen to on a rainy day, or a sunny day, depending on if you're a glass-half-full kind of person.
After a night partying with Thievery, Natalia Clavier graciously let us into her Williamsburg, Brooklyn home for an interview and here she is performing "Nada" with husband Federico Aubele.
Catch Clavier on the road with Thievery this summer, they're playing Lollapalooza among other festivals.
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