Cloves

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Australian singer/songwriter Cloves emerged in the 2010s with a lush sound and smoky vocals reminiscent of Lana Del Rey and Adele. Her first EP, 2015's stripped-down XIII, allowed her voice to take center stage. Even as her production and instrumental backing swelled on her rocking debut full-length, One Big Nothing, Cloves' voice remained the main draw. At the end of the decade, she incorporated beat-heavy programming to the mix with the dark pop single "Dead." Born Kaity Dunstan in Melbourne, Cloves started singing in public at the age of 13, performing in dive bars with her big sister and older bandmates. Belying her age, her voice added a gravity and old-soul feel to her music; she cited Amy Winehouse, Etta James, and Fiona Apple as major influences. In 2013, she appeared on the second season of the Australian version of the television singing competition The Voice, performing covers of Melanie Safka's "Brand New Key" and Cyndi Lauper's "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun." Two years later, she kicked off her solo career. Choosing her stage name after a trip to Bali, Cloves recorded her debut material with producers Justin Parker (Lana Del Rey, Sia, Rihanna) and Rich Cooper (Tom Odell, Mumford & Sons). Her first EP, XIII, was released in 2016 and featured her minimalist acoustic stylings woven beneath her rich voice. That year, her song "Don't Forget About Me" was also featured on the soundtrack to the film Me Before You. She followed her EP with "Better Now," the first single from her debut album, which added pounding drums to her usual downtempo delivery. Another single, "California Numb," appeared in 2017, followed by "Bringing the House Down" in 2018. This trio of tracks landed on the bluesy One Big Nothing, which bolstered her sound with the addition of a backing band. A cover of "Blowin' in the Wind" followed in 2019 before she switched directions again on 2020's "Dead," which introduced slinky alt-pop production to her repertoire.
© Neil Z. Yeung /TiVo