Natalie Claro has been immersed in music since the tender age of five when she taught herself harmonica. Now at 17, she seems to have written and sung her way through life, mastering guitar, ukulele, drums and piano, gathering a fierce fanbase along the way in her East Coast home in the United States.
Today we want to review Natalie’s debut Atychiphobia. It’s a fitting title for a debut EP, meaning “fear of failure”. Atychiphobia has five tracks, each emotionally powerful and showcasing Natalie’s musical talent.
The EP begins with the sweetly titled “Baby Bug”. It’s a beautiful conversation between Natalie and her younger self; a version of Natalie that was in reality struggling at the time with not fitting in and being an outsider. The track therefore becomes a powerful anthem for all of those younger selves of each of us (or present selves for younger listeners) who needed that voice from the future to reassure them that it would in fact get better:
Can’t you see
One day we’ll be butterflies
Flying free, flying free
Natalie’s flowing and emotional vocals make this a moving song and an impactful start to the EP. Musically it’s piano, light guitar and thumping bass drum akin to a heartbeat.
Track two is “Mountains” which veers into a countryesque sound courtesy of sunny guitar and skipping beat. The song speaks about life, and sounds like a critique but also a recognition and acceptance of the reality of life; The unrealistic desire to eschew modern life and live in the trees in order to truly life a ‘real true life’.
I will never leave
Cause what can you do
You can’t live up in the mountains or
Live up in the trees
Natalie seems to have a gift for sharing strong and honest tales while retaining her kind persona along the way.
The third track on the EP is “Shower Of Roses”. It’s sparser musically, with a strong focus on vocals with a slower beat. It has a feel like a dreamy romantic tune of a far-gone era. Natalie’s silky vocals wrap around the lyrics and are slightly distorted giving even more of a romanticised feel. This is my favourite of the EP (and I wish I could locate the lyrics to go even deeper).
The next track “Daisy” is sass and fierceness, with twangy guitar and vocals belted out. It’s a tumbling number, with Natalie’s powerful voice coursing through the track, again poking toward a country sound more than alternative.
Atychiphobia closes with “My Calling, The Door”. From the outset the track is mellow musically, but also searching and winding. It refers to her calling and her experiences with this as well as her identity along the way. I adore the music box outro.
We loved Atychiphobia; a heartfelt and emotional freight train of an EP, whipping through our lives leaving us waiting for the next time the Natalie Claro train will come and what it might bring with it. Natalie has talent running through her veins, as well as much time ahead for even more musical growth and evolution, hopefully devoid of any symptoms of atychiphobia.
Atychiphobia is available for purchase at all your favourite online places. You can also stream it below.
Header image credit: Carlos Chan Perez
