Hip hop
Lithuanian-Canadian artist Aistis has shared his new album ‘Clay’ in full.
In a way, this is an album that arrived almost by accident. Aistis was composing his upcoming project ‘Cavier For Seagulls’ when his attention was caught by events in the present – deciding to tackle this head-on, the songs came pouring out.
Blending fact and fiction, lifting from his own life while extrapolating into the imagination, Aistis constructed an alt-folk odyssey. Out now, ‘Clay’ is flavoured with sensory delights – songs such as ‘Lilac Perfume’ for example conjure extraordinary atmospheres.
‘So They Say’ is deeply emotive, while closing song (and title track) ‘Clay’ is remarkably astute.
Introducing the project, Aistis writes…
I had been navigating a relationship with someone that I loved deeply but found ever-confusing, beautiful, sometimes painful, strange, complicated, yet life-affirming. I think a lot of ‘Clay’ started as an exploration of trying to gain a deeper understanding of what it was I was feeling, but sort of morphed into its own entity the further in I went.
As the writer/creator of the work, there is inherent bias in my re-telling of history and feeling. This became ever apparent to me the more I wrote, so I decided it would be far more interesting and true to explore my feelings around this relationship by blending elements of reality with intentional fiction and exaggeration, told through the narration of multiple voices. Myself, the muse, and the inner-voice, without ever defining who it is that is speaking. The journey became non-linear and is full of love, hypocrisy, self-reflection, inside-jokes, romanticism, self-deprecation, and beauty.
Despite its fictional elements, it somehow feels like the most honest exploration of the love and reverie I hold for this person, for every experience shared together, good or bad, as well as of the self. Throughout the entire process of making ‘Clay’, this person remained/remains involved and played/plays a huge role in collaboration, making everything all the more special, while almost adding to the ethos and mythology of ‘Clay’ itself.
Tune in now.
Photo Credit: Sophia Perras
