Claire Morales announces new album Lost in the Desert out August 19
Claire Morales announces new album Lost in the Desert out August 19
Shares new single & video "Champion"
Stream: "Champion" on All Digital Platforms
On August 19, Denton, TX-based music and visual artist Claire Morales will release her new album Lost in the Desert (pre-order). In anticipation of the upcoming release, she is excited to unveil the album’s lead single, “Champion,” along with its striking one-take music video. "Champion" premiered this week at Glide Magazine and is now available on all streaming platforms.
On the song, Claire Morales says:
“‘Champion’ was written during a time when my life was exploding,” Morales shares. “I had spent years avoiding conflict, hello, avoidant tendencies, and unsurprisingly, that created major issues in my personal life. Everything came to a head while I was releasing my last album. I learned that putting music out into the world can be a catalyst for upheaval. All the things I was afraid to face, all the uncomfortable truths I had been dodging, came crashing down.”
She continues: “It was brutal but necessary. One of the biggest takeaways from that period was the power of speaking your truth, even when it’s difficult. ‘Champion’ is about embracing conflict. Filming the video felt like exposure therapy: in a single take, I fight the camera, scream, cry, and release all the emotions that are too scary to express in real time.”
The song explores the ironic nature of conflict avoidance. “It’s almost a fight about fighting,” Morales explains. “It pokes fun at how monumental small arguments can feel. I imagined it like the kind of one-sided argument you have in your car alone—it sounds great because no one’s there to challenge you.”
Blending her passions for music and visual art, Claire Morales crafts immersive worlds that are both sonic and cinematic. Drawing and singing from a young age, the two passions have always been interwoven and inextricably linked. Her latest work depicts a solo, female odyssey through sand, the narrative taking its form as both a full length album and a graphic novella. Inspired by true stories mixed with tall tales, Lost in the Desert depicts the lures and the lust, the beauty and the horror, the traps and the diversions one encounters on the path towards self actualization.
The tone shifts dramatically throughout the record, from bright poppy bursts, to ominous psychedelic swells, to roaring rock n roll moments, to quiet lulls of folky introspection. The album is dynamic and varied with a new surprise around each bend. Morales and her band are not afraid to stretch genre when the themes demand it. Much of the work was recorded live with the intent to capture the rawness of such a performance. Alex Hastings (the band’s lead guitarist) engineered the album and produced it along with Morales in their hometown of Denton, TX. The record features performances by a mix of friends and local legends, and you can feel the care and the community that were poured into this work.
Lost in the Desert invites the listener to both escape into a dreamland and turn their intentions inward. It is an invitation to ask the questions that are tempting to avoid, and to journey forth towards the truth, whatever the cost. It is meant to be as much a demonstration of feminine power as it is a signpost for the lost and disheartened to press ahead, even and especially when the journey feels insurmountable. It is a call to keep existing even in a world that feels pitted against your very essence.
Photo credit: Ellie Alonzo
