Shannon & the Clams Unveil Single 'Real or Magic'
Their new album is set to release on May 10.
By: Michael Major Mar. 21, 2024
Preparing for the release of their upcoming album, The Moon Is In the Wrong Place, Shannon & The Clams unveil an entrancing new ballad “Real Or Magic” via Easy Eye Sound.
Penned after singer-bassist, Shannon Shaw, had a vision of her late fiancé bathed in sunlight, “Real Or Magic” is a grainy, doo-wop meets psych-rock contemplation of reality following his death. The accompanying music video sees Shannon as a holographic prom queen accompanied by the band adorned in corsages, and even her dog Spanky-Joe makes a special cameo.
The album debuts on May 10th on longtime collaborator Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys', acclaimed label Easy Eye Sound. The Moon Is In The Wrong Place opens with “The Vow,” a horn-laced number that Shaw wrote with the intention of surprising Joe Haener on their wedding day. The track is a brief glimpse of possibility and hope for what might've been, one that is quickly torn to shreds.
It's followed by “The Hourglass,” a product of the band's jam sessions. Intense and unsettling, its hypnotic, lurching groove and cascading organ runs have a touch of off-kilter Krautrock in them; it also offers a look at the volcano of emotion churning inside Shaw's body.
There are many moments of staggering beauty on The Moon Is In The Wrong Place. In “Oh So Close, Yet So Far,” Shaw feels him in the breeze, the stars, and the trees, understanding that now she shares him with everyone. “So Lucky” grew out of a mantra Shaw was repeating in the weeks after Haener's death, and the lush arrangement shimmers with sadness and gratitude in equal measure as she recounts her favorite little details.
Cody Blanchard also steps up to the mic for lead vocal duties on several tracks that address his experience with loss and grief, including the strutting, fuzzed-out “Big Wheel” and the Northern soul-styled lament “What You're Missing.” Will Sprott makes an appearance as lead singer, describing an otherworldly encounter in the trippy tune “UFO.”
Ultimately, Shaw finds something like acceptance. In the album-closing “Life Is Unfair,” she spells it out: “Life is unfair, yet beautiful. I see it now.” Existence is both bitter and sweet, sunshine and rain, dark and light, life and death. It's a little bit of everything. Sometimes the moon is in the wrong place. Knowing that has made her, and The Clams, stronger.
Shannon & The Clams will be touring throughout 2024 to support The Moon Is In The Wrong Place. Tickets can be purchased on the band's website HERE.
UPCOMING TOUR DATES:
4/7 - Hot Springs, AR @ Ecliptic Festival
5/23 - Columbus, OH @ Ace of Cups ^ *SOLD OUT*
5/24 - Pittsburgh, PA @ Spirit Hall ^
5/25 - Toronto, ON @ The Concert Hall ^
5/26 - Montréal, QC @ Les Foufounes Électriques ^
5/28 - Boston, MA @ The Sinclair ^
5/30 - Brooklyn, NY @ Warsaw ^
5/31 - Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer ^
6/1 - Washington, DC @ Black Cat ^
6/4 - Carrboro, NC @ Cat's Cradle ^
6/5 - Asheville, NC @ The Orange Peel ^
6/6 - Atlanta, GA @ Terminal West ^
6/7 - Nashville, TN @ The Basement East ^
6/8 - Pelham, TN @ The Caverns *
6/10 - St. Louis, MO @ Off Broadway ^
6/11 - Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall ^
6/12 - Madison, WI @ Majestic Theatre ^
6/13 - Minneapolis, MN @ Fine Line ^
7/27 - Portland, OR @ Project Pabst
10/3 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Wiltern Theatre
10/4 - San Diego, CA @ The Observatory North Park
10/5 - Mesa, AZ @ The Nile Theater
10/7 - Albuquerque, NM @ Sunshine Theater
10/8 - Denver, CO @ The Gothic Theatre
10/10 - Salt Lake City, UT @ Soundwell
10/11 - Boise, ID @ Shrine Social Club Ballroom
10/15 - Vancouver, BC @ Rickshaw Theatre
10/16 - Seattle, WA @ The Neptune Theatre
10/19 - Oakland, CA @ Fox Theater
^ w/ Tropa Magica
* w/ Murder By Death
photo credit: Jim Herrington
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