New EP, The Half We Still Have Out August 4 Via Fantasy Records
Emerging Toronto-based artist, Rachel Bobbitt, has shared a new single entitled “Clay Feet,” the second track from her recently announced new EP, The Half We Still Have, out August 4 on Fantasy Records. An obsessive tale of power dynamics and disenchantment, Clay Feet perfectly encapsulates Rachel’s remarkable gift for expressing universal truths in the tiniest of details.
“Clay Feet describes a love that is all consuming and desperate,” Bobbitt explains. “While the song details the gentle and delicate moments within a relationship, it also alludes to a darker undercurrent of manipulation and control. Love can take you outside of yourself and make you do things you’d never expect- both good and bad.”Â
The track’s accompanying video was shot in the foothills of Malibu, CA by director Lauren Wade.
Produced and mixed by Jorge Elbrecht (Sky Ferreira, Japanese Breakfast) at 80A Studios in Toronto, The Half We Still Have is a series of sharp and incisive character studies, told with unflinching honesty, piercing intuition, and fearless self-reflection.Â
“I wanted these songs to reflect the intense dynamics that take shape in relationships,” Bobbitt says. “I’ve found in some relationships, you give and give, only to eventually lose yourself in the process. In those moments where we feel abandoned and hollow, a small sliver remains intact, preserved, and personal.”Â
The Half We Still Have is a searing, empathetic work of musical non-fiction, and just the beginning of an immensely bright future to come. Â
Rachel Bobbitt (vocals/guitar) is joined on The Half We Still Have by close musical partner, Justice Der (guitar/e-bow), Stephen Bennett (drums/percussion), Isaac Teague (bass), Sam Laramee (synth) along with Alex George (strings). The band’s tight-knit cohesion, combined with Elbrecht’s visionary production, helps give Rachel’s expansive bedroom, art-pop compositions their shimmering toughness.Â
Previous EP, The Ceiling Could Collapse, and now The Half We Still Have, showcase strong songwriting prowess, a skill that Bobbitt has been honing for a long time. She made a name for herself on Vine as a teenager, uploading covers of pop hits and all-time classics to the now-defunct social media site. As her profile rose, Bobbitt found herself overwhelmed rather than inspired.
“It was exciting to be doing what I loved, but it was difficult to be observed by that many people at that age where I simultaneously wanted to just shut myself in,” she says. “I’m grateful it ended when it did, because it gave me time to step back and think about what I wanted to create for myself.”
She soon found herself at a jazz program, before leaving it during the pandemic to focus on her own music.Â
“Most of the moments I have had in my life that felt right, like they made sense, have been a result of human connection,” Rachel concludes. “It can be so beautiful, and it can also be desperate and damaging. I have had connections in my life that made me question the fundamentals of my character, and unfortunately, I don’t think that is uncommon. But throughout every complicated, demoralizing, or harmful relationship, there has always been that slice of myself that remained mine, even when I didn’t feel it. The Half We Still Have centres around that small piece, and the connections that threaten it.”