We’ve all struggled with a breakup. Doubts creep in with any glimmer that things might be what they once were. We struggle to find the words to end it, not wanting to hurt our former love interest. On her latest single, Claire Frazier describes these feelings as “Emotion Sickness,” describing the symptoms in an explosive chorus worthy of Top 40 radio: “When I think of you it blurs my vision/I’m taking anything to cure my system/So I don’t listen/I need to fix all this emotion sickness.” The polished anthem for entanglements was co-written with Elsa Curran, Ruxley, Midi Jones, produced by Midi Jones (Lauren Sanderson, Audrey Mika, and Alessia Cara), and mixed by Erik Madrid (Kehlani, Khalid, KYLE, ASAP Rocky). Though Claire Frazier is only seventeen, the all-star team of power-house writers and engineers on board this early on in her musical journey signals good things to come.
Born and raised in Mobile, Alabama, Claire Frazier has been singing her entire life. With maturity and a strong sense of emotional independence, the up-and-coming singer-songwriter runs against the genre grain, drawn more to creating smooth pop tracks shaped by attributes of EDM and hip-hop than to the regionally popular country, gospel, or blues rock often associated with the South. During her junior year, Claire Frazier’s friends and family encouraged her to post videos of herself singing on Instagram. Timid at first, she began using the social media platform to post both covers and original songs. This led to a connection with producer, Dave Cappa, which propelled her into the start of her career. She’s released two singles so far – “I Want You Bad” in April, and “Thrills” last month.
Claire Frazier’s sound sits on the musical spectrum between the confessional and traditional pop songwriting style of Taylor Swift, and the chart topping hooks of Zara Larsson. “Emotion Sickness” is all about reclaiming those emotional instincts and rebuilding a sense of self post breakup. “I hope when the listener hears “Emotion Sickness” they envision themselves having a conversation with themselves embracing the internal struggle that you can’t change the past,” Frazier explains in her Soundcloud post.
It’s easy to feel trapped in our own minds as we romanticize the beginnings of a new romance that’s long past its expiration date, or experience longing in our current relationships. We play tennis in our minds with the compulsive thoughts that linger from a break up, those “what if’s” that come before closure. “Maybe if we try to do this/It can have a different ending/We might see the good side/I could see you smile again,” Claire Frazier sings. At a certain point we need to exit the emotional roller coaster that’s causing emotion sickness, and process the burden of a heavy heartache. Claire Frazier’s clever parallels between physical symptoms and emotional torment (“My head is aching from the indecision/What is and isn’t/My world is spinning”) are the perfect pop reckoning needed to ditch toxic relationships that no longer serve our needs.
The urgency on her delivery transports the listener to the era of tender teen love. For those unjaded adults who still have the capacity to fall head over heels in love like an early 2000s coming of age movie, Claire Frazier should be on your radar. Her voice is the new soundtrack to the make up, break up, blurry eyed, put it in the past romantic saga.
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