For singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Claire Rosinkranz, gardens have long served as a symbol of complexity. In the hands of the platinum-certified artist, the garden is explored as a place where roots tangle with weeds, beauty and decay blend, and cycles of death and rebirth yield unexpected joys. It’s the guiding metaphor behind her forthcoming release, a sophomore album titled My Lover.
“A garden is a place where raw beauty is a constant through the cycle of life and death,” Claire says. “It’s a place of pruning, picking, watering, and blooming.”
It’s this philosophy that can be found at the heart of the upcoming project and in songs like the title track. “Any relationship that stands on love provides an opportunity to be vulnerable,” she says of “My Lover.” “A lot of things get exposed in the process, but because of love, there’s a safe place to explore.”
Music is the soil in which Claire first planted her own seeds of creativity. Raised in a family steeped in the craft — her Icelandic father a classically trained composer and violinist who serves as her lead producer and engineer, one grandmother an opera singer, the other a music educator, her mother a musician — pursuing music professionally was never a question of if, but how soon. Classical music, coupled with classical ballet education, shaped her early understanding of structure, a trait evident in moments like the intricacy of album opener “City” and the unpredictable melody line of “Kiss.”
When Claire’s 2020 release “Backyard Boy” achieved wildfire virality, laying the groundwork for her now nearly 2 billion career streams, she stepped into a season of expansive growth that allowed her to take control of her next chapter. The years after the success of “Backyard Boy” were filled with intentionality and honing of her craft. Then, at 19, a health crisis forced her to a standstill, a grinding halt that reframed her relationship with time and interiority. It’s an experience she explores thoughtfully on the album’s song “Chronic.”
Emerging from the time of stillness and writing every song on the album, gradually pulling in trusted collaborators like Eddie Benjamin, Claire anchored My Lover in trust: in her own instincts, in her family, and in her spiritual foundation. Faith is a theme that subtly surfaces in moments like “Lucy” and its accompanying apple artwork, but throughout the record, Claire circles the idea that growth is rarely linear. What emerges is a collection of songs that doesn’t rush the bloom, but honors every stage of the garden’s cycle — roots, weeds, dirt and all. With the album’s moments of humor, relatability, and inventive melodies, My Lover is Claire opening herself up and stepping into a new season with renewed energy and confidence.
“I follow what feels natural,” she says. “I’m not chasing references or trends, so everything ends up sounding fresh. This is the most honest way I can share myself. If you want to know who I am, it’s all in the music.”
