Clare Maguire

Clare Maguire delivers gutsy, haunting vocals over a dark, brooding, and atmospheric alternative dance sound that has drawn favorable comparisons to Portishead’s Beth Gibbons and Kosheen’s Sian Evans. Born in Birmingham in 1988 and formerly employed as a shop assistant, she composed her first song at age seven. After cultivating a dedicated audience via her MySpace page, she ignited a major-label bidding war that included Jay-Z and ultimately signed with Polydor Records in 2009. Drawing influence from Howlin’ Wolf and Sister Rosetta Tharpe, she tracked her debut album alongside Mark Ronson while declining material submitted by Plan B and Jarvis Cocker. Following support dates on Hurts’ U.K. tour and receipt of a Q Award for Next Big Thing, she issued her debut single “Ain’t Nobody” in 2010, with the full-length Light After Dark arriving in early 2011. Critics gave the album mixed notices and largely deemed it an underwhelming introduction relative to her evident vocal ability. “The Last Dance,” the record’s second and highest-charting single, reached number 23 on the UK singles chart, yet the project’s modest commercial showing precipitated a period of decline for Maguire. She entered rehab to address alcoholism, after which her contract with Universal ended. Once recovered, she adopted a stripped-back creative routine in her Battersea flat that centered exclusively on voice and piano, leading to the spring 2016 release of her second album, Stranger Things Have Happened.