Ones To Watch: Seil Lein
The 37th artist to take the spotlight in our weekly Ones To Watch feature is enchanting purveyor or dream-rock soundscapes Seil Lein.
Seil Lein is Marie Claire Lee (vocals/guitars).
Seil Lien is the Chinese name of songwriter Marie Claire Lee, described by some quarters as “one of Scotland’s best kept secrets.” Surrounding herself with musical kindred spirits, Marie Claire’s band boasts The Temperance Movement’s Matt White on guitars/bass and Crystal Fighters touring drummer Jarrod Pizzata, while Glaswegian industrial rocker Rico Capuano helms production and shares writing duties.
Having toured with The Temperance Movement throughout Europe, this spring Seil Lien released her sublime debut EP ‘A Little While More’ to the world, which perfectly showcases her shimmering and diverse talents. Drawing parallels to artists including Portishead, PJ Harvey and an array of post-rock bands, the beguiling EP title track starts off with plaintive guitars and sparse instrumentation before Marie Claire’s dreamy vocals waft over your ears and the song slowly builds in atmospherics and beauty. Truly captivating, ‘A Little While More’ reached a widespread audience in April when cosmetics company No.7 used it in their inspirational women advertising campaign.
Released as a standalone single this week, the 90s-tinged ‘I Am Fire’, which has been recently played on Wyatt’s New Rock Show, sees Marie Claire delve into rockier musical realms. Still retaining the ethereal quality of ‘A Little While More’, ‘I Am Fire’ has a more abrasive edge with the almost My Bloody Valentine-esque guitars perfectly complimenting the yearning, self-deprecating lyrics (“I burn everything that I ever touched, I hurt everyone that I ever loved”) delivered in Marie Claire’s distorted dulcet tones.
A highly intriguing listen then, it will be interesting to see where Seil Lien takes us next!
You can see Seil Lien at the following upcoming show:
JULY 2018
Hope and Anchor, Islington – Wed 18th
Keep up-to-date with Seil Lien by visiting her official website or following her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
You can also order ‘I Am Fire’ on 7” vinyl backed by a cover of The Passions’ ‘I'm in Love with a German Film Star’ right here and check out an interview with the contemporary artist who created the artwork using gunpowder right here.