Terrane - Over You

Fenech-Soler - Kaleidoscope

// Letters to YVYNYL // 

CLAVVS - Serpentine

 / These new digital friends of mine are clearly living in the same wavelength as I am these days. I can confirm their truth.

Hey Mark,

I’ve been thinking for a few days about what to say to you. It’s weird because you don’t know me and I don’t know you, but I imagine you are a kind human, sitting on the other end of this infinite tunnel of 0s and 1s. The new iOS10 has just come out and part of the new functionality is something they’ve called “Digital Touch.” My first thought is (of course) what a great song title or album concept it would make, because there is so much depth to the phrase. Much more than I’m sure the creators intended.

The digital touching of lives, like skin pressed to glass, pushing to break through but still distinctly separated. The cloudy prints left behind in its wake. The connectedness of everything is at once beautiful and isolating.

Because, in the real world, we will likely never meet.

Still, this digital touch is real in our everyday lives. I am affected by it constantly. The images I see inform my inner landscape, mold me into the person that I am. The sounds move me from place to place. I am not the person I was before them. I am fascinated by this.

“Describe who you are,” Facebook tells me in the “About Me” section of my profile. How strange! The thought that I could accurately sum up the wholeness of my consciousness into a three sentence blurb for others to read, evaluate and catalogue into the back corners of their mind for all time. The digital age is a strange one, made all the more strange when you are an artist and part of what you are expected to do is sum yourself up in a perfect little package for others to consume. I don’t think I’m very good at this, but I will try.

My name is Amber, and I am the lyricist and vocalist for CLAVVS alongside my partner Graham, a multi-instrumentalist who also produces the project. We live in Atlanta, GA, and we make pop songs about consciousness, existence, ego and time. I suppose most songs are about the human condition on some level, but our work deals in the embodiment aspect of being a human. The strangeness of occupying a body and the feelings that come as a result.

This song, “Serpentine,” is quite literally about the internal struggle we all face. The daily battle of our inner lives, the distinct voices that echo inside of us and fill us up with so much noise. The impulses we have to do better and the impulses we have to serve only ourselves. I’ve been told (and happen to believe) that everyone houses two voices inside of them. That of the ego and that of the soul. Both are meant to protect you, but only one of them will lead you home. “Serpentine” is about the never-ending battle between them, the temptation of giving in, and the momentary triumph of overcoming.

Graham and I believe that all consciousness is connected. That, scientifically speaking, everything is energy. And we all know from grade school that energy can never be created or destroyed. So, if this digital touch leaves you with anything, I hope it’s with a sense of calm. There is an infinite well of good in the world, and it’s inside of you.

With love + the best vibes,

Amber & Graham

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