Astrid frontman Charlie Clark has been one of 2021’s highlights. The poignant ode to his father ‘A Bridge To Your Idol’ and our single of the year ‘Don’t Have A Cow Man’ have lit up this stop-start year. His third single, ‘Blink of an Eye’, was released at the start of November via No Big Deal Records.
Last time out, Clark was dealing with the pain of his father’s illness. Many in this situation, opt for the music to convey the pain but, Clark has a rare talent to express himself lyrically as well as sonically. This ability is on display again as he digs into the minutiae of relationships. Specifically, he looks at the over-analysis of mistakes made, a trait all can relate to, especially the Rob Fleming’s of the world.
Clark doesn’t waste time, dives straight into his anguish with the line “I don’t want to make this harder on you”. Only James’s ‘Zero’ can lay claim to a harder-hitting opener (“We’re all going to die”). It’s easy to see why Ride’s Mark Gardener mastered this album. Clark holds you in a loving but lost ethereal state of bliss and confusion. Despite his specific narrative, he has a universality to this songwriting which sucks you into a realm of weightlessness to zone out or hone in on life’s pressing issues.
Clark’s guitar playing excels itself on this record. He creates a powerful looping rumble that comes alive in the closing moments. It perfectly encapsulates how the brain can be going a million miles all the while, nothing changes. It rams home those nights of poor life choices, ones most of us made during lockdown wondering where life was going.
Clark’s debut solo album will be released on No Big Deal Records in the new year. His three singles have been of such quality, variety, and integrity, it is simply not to be missed.