Claire's new EP Release "Hearts and Minds" in many ways completes her transition from major label artist to self-managed independent. This is her third independent release, and like many artists in tune with both what changes and what stays the same, she's increasingly adapted her release approach to the digital-friendly EP. Hearts and Minds is a three-song collage of where her music is now, including flawlessly produced recordings with writing partner Tommy G ("A Long Goodbye" and "Winds of Change") and a beat-driven mid-tempo track with 'ohana Dreamdance producer Johnny Nevin ("Wouldn't It").

Claire came by Heart & Soul to talk about the EP's release -- about how the songs came to be, who was in on the project, and a lot more. “The EP is about balance or the lack of it,” she says. “In these songs, either the heart or the mind is in control – but you need them both working in unison to make choices for real happiness." Here's the ten minute interview, most definitely worth a listen to get a look inside the exceptionally creative mind of Claire Massey -----

You can find much more about Claire at planetclaire.com, and you can hear Hearts and Minds at cdbaby. We also have another podcast about the production of "Wouldn't It" right here, and you can hear the entire track in the aotpr.com story "Wouldn't It" from Claire's New Hearts & Minds EP".

The new planetclaire.com is live. The relaunch coincides with the release of Claire's latest project, her Hearts and Minds EP. It's a great artist site, mixing the new --- "A Long Goodbye" and "Winds of Change" (written and produced with long-time writing partner Tommy G), and "Wouldn't It" (produced by 'ohana Dreamdance bandmate Johnny Nevin) --- with some classic video from pop legend Tami Show. More from us about Hearts and Minds in a few days, but you can get it now at cdbaby and at iTunes. Even more of Claire's music is at the very cool Planet Claire.

Here's a really short podcast that traces the development of the "Wouldn't It" production. It starts with the intro from the final release, but then shows five different stages of the song's development, playing different progressive versions of how the arrangement and production of the track changed. Each of the versions is from the same section of the song, the second verse and chorus, until the podcast closes with the rest of the song from the final release. If you've got a few minutes, take a little trip through the process of how a singer/songwriter and her producer find the track that they want to make from a beautiful song.

Claire
"Wouldn't It"

Claire Massey is the original vocalist in 'ohana Dreamdance, co-writing "Made To Love", and singing on four or five of the group's first tracks, only one of which ("Let Me") has been released so far. But most of Claire's music has come out of her successful collaboration with highly respected Chicago guitarist Tommy G., a collaboration that has included writing, performing and recording a number of noted projects. The two were founding members of the nineties pop group, now cult favorite, Tami Show, which included Claire's sister Cath, and after Tami Show's run through two major label deals ended, Claire and Tommy continued working.

Their 2002 LP Suncat Muse included the single "Butterfly", which, in complete defiance of the sordid financial realities of modern corporate radio, reached the Top 20 of the national AC charts as a true independent single. Their production technique has always come from traditional band-based arrangements, and it begins when Claire and Tommy write a song, usually a guitar driven progression from Tommy that Claire will put lyrics and melody to. When they're ready, they find some great musicians, usually the same ones, book studio time in a great room with a great producer/engineer, and work together with everybody until the track is right. It's the approach of most great bands, and a very different process from the producer-and-vocalist approach of most beats-driven music, like dance and R&B.

Claire Massey cowrote this track with Johnny Nevin, and with Claire getting ready to release a new EP called "Hearts and Minds", it's a good time to listen to how she crafts a melody and lyric. Made To Love is due for a full remix and release early next year, and "Hearts and Minds" includes a track called "Wouldn't It", that Nevin produced, and that will show up here soon, maybe with some of the backstory.

For more about Claire and "Hearts and Minds" her site is planetclaire.com, and you can find Made To Love at iTunes, Amazon and in the U.K. at 7Digital.

Claire Massey wrote the lyrics to this strangely compelling 'ohana track, and she sings it hard and true, like somebody's favorite record from another world. This is the original, four-minute radio mix, the one that won't let you go home until you've heard the whole story.

It doesn't seem like a track moving this fast could be this chill. Maybe it's because a quiet but persistent momentum takes this song through a series of gentle changes, until it falls off into a dream of a breakdown, and then comes back again. This is How-To-Chill-a-House-Track; this is six minutes of Just-Close-Your-Eyes.