Deep Dive: Cleo Handler – LES

Singer, songwriter, and filmmaker Cleo Handler splits her time between Brooklyn and Los Angeles. That blend of grit and sunshine is very present on gold, her 14-track album which was released on the 3rd of March. An album highlight is the reflective LES, which Cleo explores as part of our Deep Dive series.

Lyrics and genesis of LES

LES is about reflecting back on the many years spent supporting a partner’s band, and now trying to channel that energy back into yourself after a breakup. It’s about finding yourself and your own voice when you feel silenced.

Instrumentation

I really wanted this track to have a strong sense of place – to transport you to a sticky, dimly-lit rock show. So, I filled out the arrangement to kind of recreate that feel as much as possible, and then we brought that to life even more in the studio.

To me, LES is really about holding two ideas in your head at once: the pain of feeling cut off and alienated from something you’ve lost, but also the deep sense of what it meant to you – and activated in you – at the time. I wanted the perspective to feel like it was constantly shifting – then vs. now, side-stage vs. center, looking up vs. looking in – so I messed around and landed on the double octave vocals, and was really drawn to the sort of funny, sad feeling of duality they gave the song.

Recording LES

I recorded the vocals & guitar at home, and then worked with Claire Morrison at Wild Horizon Sound in West Hollywood, Los Angeles to flesh it out. She brought on the amazing musicians Mike DeLuccia (drums) and Sarsten Noice (bass), and I had so much fun working with them.

I really felt like Claire, who mixed the album too, totally understood the sort of lo-fi, stripped down 90s sound I wanted. I remember leaving one of those sessions and sending a voice memo to someone that was so filled with excitement and energy, in a generally pretty tough period of my life, that I listened to it again and again later on, in darker, less certain moments, to remind myself of that joyous feeling.

Where does the song fit within your overall sound?

LES is one of the harder, edgier tracks on gold. But it’s also pretty reflective and playful. Some of the songs skew a bit more indie folk, and some a bit more singer-songwriter. But altogether, they hopefully combine to paint a more nuanced portrait of an experience: a mosaic of moods and moments, twisting and shifting like a disco ball catching the light. In a grungy music venue on the Lower East Side.

You can download gold on Bandcamp, while the album can also be streamed there as well as Apple Music and Spotify. You can also discover more about Cleo Handler on her Instagram and Twitter socials