CLEWS, the current contenders for best sister act in Australian music, were back in Brisbane for their headline Spooky Pageant tour. I headed along to The Foundry to see the girls play their best and to catch a glimpse of what is to come.
Speaking of what is to come, unreleased track ‘Salt’ was first and offered up what has become the signature CLEWS element, Lily’s and Grace’s harmonious duet singing. The core appeal of the band for myself, and what separates them from other indie rock outfits, is the combined vocals of the sisters, and how each song provides a slightly different variation.
Next was the band’s latest single ‘New Age’. Lily led the vocals on this track and she was also provided a short guitar solo at the end of the track. ‘New Age’ has a video clip out now, so, if you want to get a visual and sonic taste of what CLEWS have offer, check it out.
The new music kept coming, as we were only the second group to hear ‘Honeymoon Lookout’. Described as “a song for anyone with a beautiful group of friends, where you may be the 3rd or 5th wheel”, keep an ear out for this one if you are like me, and love a good track about crippling social isolation.
The girls apologised, as they went from “one sad song to another” with ‘Teeth’. Stating that the song was for ‘everyone with a partner’ this time, it opened with just Lily and Grace performing. It wasn’t until the final chorus, that the rest of the band came in, and ended the song on an explosive note.
‘Museum’, a personal favourite and the song I play when I want explain to people who CLEWS are, somehow snuck its way into the middle of the set. “Things don’t come in threes, that’s just something people say, because patterns make things easy” is just such a great, depressingly honest lyric. Oscar on drums also deserves a shoutout for his solid and sweaty work during this track.
Then it was time for “another new one” with ‘Want You That Way’, before we headed into ‘Hollywood’. The spooky part of the Spooky Pageant tour had arrived as all the lights in the venue turned blood red. Lily placed her guitar down, and then she was leaping off the stage, walking out into the crowd as she sung the chorus. She spent the majority of the song there, basked in the haunting red light. Halloween had come a little late at The Foundry.
The set was closed out with ‘Crushed’, followed by one of the band’s earliest tracks, ‘Feel’. ‘Crushed saw the sisters duelling their guitars during the middle portion of the song, and the crowd roared along with Grace every time she rang out another “Yeahhhhh” during the choruses.
With all the new material showcased during the set, an EP has to be coming soon, right?
For the time being though, the new single ‘New Age’ is available now to stream, and you can check out the film clip for the song here.
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