Claire Cronin is a singer-songwriter and author. She has released four albums: ''Over and Through'' (2015), ''Came Down a Storm'' (2016), ''Big Dread Moon'' (2019) and ''Bloodless'' (2021).

Biography

Cronin moved from

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

Athens, Georgia Athens, officially Athens–Clarke County, is a consolidated city-county and college town in the U.S. state of Georgia. Athens lies about northeast of downtown Atlanta, and is a satellite city of the capital. The University of Georgia, the sta ...

in the summer of 2015. In addition to her music career, she is a poet and as of 2019 was a

PhD student A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

creative writing Creative writing is any writing that goes outside the bounds of normal professional, journalistic, academic, or technical forms of literature, typically identified by an emphasis on narrative craft, character development, and the use of literary ...

at the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

, completing a thesis on

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apoca ...

s and television. She has described poetry and songwriting as "equally meaningful, difficult and necessary", saying "they may come from the same inner place, but ... there is a different burden on poetry to silently perform emotion and nuance to a reader, hereasa singer's voice can impart these things in how it handles lyrics—transforming a really simple refrain into something profound, for example." Cronin has named the songwriters

Jason Molina Jason Andrew Molina (December 30, 1973 – March 16, 2013) was an American musician, singer and songwriter. Raised in northern Ohio, he came to prominence performing and recording as Songs: Ohia, both in solo projects and with a rotating cast of ...

Nick Drake Nicholas Rodney Drake (19 June 1948 – 25 November 1974) was an English singer-songwriter known for his acoustic guitar-based songs. He did not find a wide audience during his lifetime, but his work gradually achieved wider notice and recognit ...

Chan Marshall Charlyn Marie "Chan" Marshall ( ; born January 21, 1972), better known by her stage name Cat Power, is an American singer-songwriter, musician and model. Cat Power was originally the name of her first band, but has become her stage name as a ...

and

Jeff Mangum Jeff Mangum (born 24 October 1970) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician who gained prominence as the founder, songwriter, vocalist and guitarist of Neutral Milk Hotel, as well for his co-founding of The Elephant 6 Recording Company. Ma ...

, and the poets

Brigit Pegeen Kelly Brigit Pegeen Kelly (1951 – October 14, 2016) was an American poet and teacher. Born in Palo Alto, California, Kelly grew up in southern Indiana and lived much of her adult life in central Illinois. An intensely private woman, little is known ...

Frank Stanford Frank Stanford (born Francis Gildart Smith; August 1, 1948 – June 3, 1978) was an American poet. He is most known for his epic, ''The Battlefield Where The Moon Says I Love You'' – a labyrinthine poem without stanzas or punctuation. In a ...

and Sara Nicholson as influences.

''Over and Through'' (2015)

''Over and Through'', a compilation of Cronin's work produced over the previous several years, was released in 2015.

''Came Down a Storm'' (2016)

''Came Down a Storm'', produced in collaboration with John Dieterich of

Deerhoof Deerhoof are an American musical group formed in San Francisco in 1994. They currently consist of founding drummer Greg Saunier, bassist and singer Satomi Matsuzaki, and guitarists John Dieterich and Ed Rodriguez. Beginning as an improvised noi ...

, was released in 2016. Cronin has described the album as resembling a

concept album A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Som ...

by virtue of the songs' focus on "death and the afterlife" and their construction of "overlapping narratives and characters." Gabe Vodicka, writing in ''

Flagpole Magazine ''Flagpole Magazine'', often abbreviated to simply ''Flagpole'', is an American alternative newsweekly that focuses on the cultural, liberal scene of Athens, Georgia, and its surrounding communities. Athens is known in Georgia and nationally ...

'', singles out "The Unnatural" for praise and described the album's other songs as "both beautiful and terrifying—abstract stories of personal victory set against a sea of apocalyptic imagery."

''Big Dread Moon'' (2019)

''Big Dread Moon'' was released in 2019. The album's lyrics draw on Cronin's interest in horror films; musically, most songs feature only vocals, guitar and viola, while only some use synthesizers and percussion. Sam Sodomsky of ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to th ...

'' described Cronin's lyrics on the album as "kaleidoscopic" and "heavy with pre-traumatic calm." Sodomsky noted that the album strikes a "balance between tenderness and terror, the supernatural and the quotidian" and praised "Wolfman" as a high point, describing it as "a slow, menacing ballad sung with the devotion of a love song." Writing for ''

Talkhouse Talkhouse is a digital media outlet and online magazine created in 2013 by Ian Wheeler and Tim Putnam. Musicians, actors, and filmmakers share their experiences in their respective fields in personal essays, discuss their peers’ work in editor ...

'', Sam Woodring wrote that ''Big Dread Moon'' "betrays a strong knack for narrative, pacing, and imagery, probably indebted to her other artistic endeavor as a writer" and noted that Cronin's vocals "dart around in a way that builds suspense not only for what she is about to say, but for how she may or may not buckle her words into pitch-perfect severed parts."

''Blue Light of the Screen'' (2020)

Cronin's first book of non-fiction, ''Blue Light of the Screen: On Horror, Ghosts, and God'', was published by

Repeater Books Repeater Books is a publishing imprint based in London, founded in 2014 by Tariq Goddard and Mark Fisher, formerly the founders of radical publishers Zero Books, along with Etan Ilfeld, Tamar Shlaim, Alex Niven and Matteo Mandarini. Formation ...

in October 2020. Reviewing the book in ''

International Times ''International Times'' (''it'' or ''IT'') is the name of various underground newspapers, with the original title founded in London in 1966 and running until October 1973. Editors included John "Hoppy" Hopkins, David Mair ...

'', Rupert Loydell described it as "an obsessional, egotistical nightmare of a book, a shapeshifting gothic narrative". Enrico Monacelli in ''

The Quietus ''The Quietus'' is a British online music and pop culture magazine founded by John Doran and Luke Turner. The site is an editorially independent publication led by Doran with a group of freelance journalists and critics. Content ''The Quiet ...

'' described it as "a blood-shot eyed tour-guide to losing one’s ability to speak and think; to being bewildered by the strangeness of the dead and the living".

''Bloodless'' (2021)

Cronin's fourth album, ''Bloodless'', was released in November 2021. Reviewing the album in ''

God Is in the TV ''God Is in the TV'' is an independent music and culture online magazine founded by editor Bill Cummings in Cardiff in 2003. It publishes independent music reviews, features, interviews, podcasts and media. The webzine's coverage varies from un ...

'', Trev Elkins described it as "more real, personal and direct" in its examination of fear and sorrow than ''Big Dread Moon'', but noted that it also contains moments of humor, as well as "beautiful, melancholic rawness and cautionary tales". Bruce Miller of ''

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...

'' also compared the two albums, identifying ''Bloodless''s production during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

and

2020 California wildfires The 2020 California wildfire season, part of the 2020 Western United States wildfire season, was a record-setting year of wildfires in California. By the end of the year, 9,917 fires had burned , more than 4% of the state's roughly 100 mil ...

as contributing to its sense of intensity and uncertainty, and comparing it to the work of

Brigid Mae Power Brigid Mae Power is an Irish singer, songwriter, and musician. Early life Power was born in London, England to Irish parents. Her family relocated to Ireland when she was eleven years old. She learned to play the button accordion before start ...

and

Neil Young Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian-American singer and songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, joining Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Richie Furay ...

References

External links

Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cronin, Claire Living people American women singer-songwriters American folk singers 21st-century American women singers Musicians from Athens, Georgia Year of birth missing (living people)