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Sound Tracks: “To Think I Once Was Lost” by Shawn Clarke
Believe it or not, music videos still exist. Sound Tracks trolls the internet to find the best and the worst of local artists’ new singles and the good, bad, or otherwise noteworthy visuals that accompany them.
The roster of Toronto love songs is growing. Kardinal Offishall released his video ode to the city last month, and then a week ago came this, from singer-songwriter Shawn Clarke. A cut off his debut solo album, Like Birds Too Tired to Fly, “To Think I Once Was Lost” may be spare and understated, but it is unmistakably full of heart.
In addition to Birds, Clarke has collaborations with Timber Timbre and folk collective Olenka and the Autumn Lovers under his belt. In his own music, Clarke says, his goal is to “simplify music and melodies, bringing the subjects of his lyrics to the foreground.”
It shows. We can’t say we’re completely in love with this love song—the lyrics feel awkwardly literal at times—but Clarke is clearly happy to let Toronto be the centre of attention.
Like the easy, acoustic folk that Clarke writes, the video—a slideshow, really—is all about nostalgia. It feels like a throwback to, or perhaps a lament for, a slightly mythic incarnation of Toronto, which rescues newcomers from whatever it was they fled to get here. That’s not a bad thing—we all need a bit of mythology in our lives—and the black-and-white photo reel wraps you up in the city like a warm blanket.
Shawn Clarke plays the Press Club (850 Dundas Street West) at 9 p.m. on February 24; the show is free and all ages.