Coming into the music industry as a high school student via a contest held by triple j, Forest Claudette has fully cultivated their sound on “Jupiter”. Claudette grew up in the Dandenong Ranges in Victoria, Australia, starting to write songs and work on their vocals from an early age. Following the interest after the contest, Claudette released their debut EP, “The Year of February”, with the lead single of it, “Creaming Soda”, eclipsing over a million streams on Spotify.
The exploration of gender identity, sexuality, and life’s other complex problems continued to be serenaded on Forest Claudette’s next EP, “Everything Was Green”. The EP earned them two ARIA awards, including Best Soul/R&B Release, and even collaborated with the well-known rap duo EARTHGANG.
Forest Claudette Delivers An Evoking Work
“Jupiter” once again reaches another high level, and that is due part to the vibrant vocals of Forest Claudette themself. Claudette is not shy about testing the full limits of their range, whether it be a small rap verse or their ethereal falsetto that livens up the backing vocals. There is a Prince-esque energy in their vocals, not being afraid to challenge listeners with their crisp, high range.
Following up on the themes of the rest of their discography, Forest Claudette’s lyrics reach even more nuanced territory. On “Only Human”, Claudette echoes the meaning in the EP’s title. They sing, “Queen Jupiter, King Jupiter,” demonstrating that they are neither.
Claudette has even stated that this is intentional, “If men are from Mars and women are from Venus, maybe I could be from Jupiter,” they elaborate. “Jupiter represents a home and safe place for all the non-binary babies to live. You can be cast away but this place will always represent an ultimate home.”
There is also some fun lyricism on the first track of the EP, “Kobe Beef”. Claudette raps, “Done with fittin’ my genes,” creating a double meaning of trying on a pair of jeans and not fitting, but also not fitting their genes, their identity.
The production of the EP keeps the listener engaged and alert, not sticking to one particular genre. Forest Claudette shows diversity in their talent, being able to emote and sing beautifully over a grand piano, simmering strings, and simple drums on “Gold”, but also be able to rap and lividly jam on the grooving guitar and jumpy beat of “Big Wigs”.
Forest Claudette continues to emerge in the land of their alternative R&B. Mixing in rap verses, singing in falsetto, and mixing up production is all on the cards for the young career. They will continue to gain inspiration from artists like Frank Ocean, Moses Sumney, and Erykah Badu.
Claudette just finished up their tour for “Jupiter”, but has one last show, on May 30th, in Sydney, Australia.
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