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May 08, 2024 By Caleb Campbell

Later this week, Scotland-based singer/songwriter Josienne Clarke is back with her fourth full-length album, Parenthesis, I, arriving May 10th via Corduroy Punk. The record follows her 2023 effort Onliness, which saw her re-recording songs from her back catalog. Parenthesis, I draws from a similar well of folk influences, both classic and contemporary, bringing together shimmering and evocative arrangements, warm instrumentation, and an intimate lyrical voice. Yet, it is also deeply rooted in Clarke as an individual songwriter and performer. She plays guitar, saxophone, clarinet and recorders throughout the record, and describes the album as a very personal work. “This is the sound of my journey to some kind of resolution, seeking and finding a safe path of my own,” she says.

Ahead of the album’s release, Clarke is sharing a last taste of the album with her latest track, “Double-Edged Sword,” and the accompanying video, premiering with Under the Radar.

Though “Double-Edged Sword” doesn’t stray far from Clarke’s folk roots, it also thrums with an understated power. Clarke’s percussion feels like a restless counterpoint to the stacked vocal harmonies, keening melodies, and pastoral guitar lines. The track’s instrumentation is gleamining and placid, but it carries a resolute undercurrent. Clarke thrives within this contrast, with her lyrics capturing the track’s themes of empowerment: “Bring me a double-edged sword / And I’ll show you an iron will / I need nothing in my armoury / For I am standing still.”

Clarke says of the track, “Sometimes your continued existence is enough, the bold move, an act of resistance. The more time I work in the music industry the more I believe success within it is a matter of endurance & resilience. Just to still be here, to create year on year whatever the external circumstances & isn’t the same true of life in general.

Musical reference: I was going for the sound of The Stone Roses ‘Waterfall’ meets Taylor Swift’s ‘Anti-Hero’ played by a folky singer-songwriter!”

Check out the song and Alec Bowman Clarke-directed video below. Parenthesis, I is out May 10th via Corduroy Punk.