Enter for your chance to win a copy of Claire Clark's new cd 'Unhinged'.

When you express yourself by writing better than could ever speak, becoming a songwriter is the perfect way to communicate.

For 19-year-old Claire Clarke, the release of her debut album UNHINGED is the birth of an Australian artist confident and ready to stride onto the international stage.

While Claire's sound has a rocky commercial edge, don't think for one moment artistic integrity has been sacrificed for bland cookie cutter lyrics. Insightful writing is something Claire prides herself on. When you see her live, it's those lyrics which will stand out.

'Everything you say, Pierces me to my core, What lies behind your eyes, Is what I'm fearing more and more'

Honest and heartfelt, Claire's lyrics come straight from the heart without the editor ever taking over. Keep an ear out for her phrasing too which adds yet another dimension to her writing.

"It's exactly how I feel," she says of songs like 'Smell the Roses' and 'Rush'. "The songs are my emotions, right there at that moment. If I am feeling really angry or overwhelmed that is what will end up on the page.

"Writing helps me deal with things. And it takes me to different points. I might be writing about an experience and three songs later I have come to the resolution and I might even end up being quite sentimental in a song about that same experience."

It's an ever-evolving journey for an uncompromising, stridently independent and confident songwriter who uses a pen and paper as an organic way of channelling her feelings.

While she had played gigs as a younger teen, when Claire finally stepped on stage in her hometown of Perth (Western Australia) to play her own songs, it was like coming home. Instantly she knew."That one performance solidified my belief in my music. I knew I was going to get out on stage and sing these songs and they were really going to mean something."

UNHINGED takes a more edgy approach than Claire's debut EP Alter Ego, think the spunk (and punk) of Avril Lavigne and Perth's own Suze DeMarchi meets the intellectual intercourse of Alanis Morissette.

"With I write I'm completely consumed by how I feel. It's as if I'm examining each facet of my emotions from every different angle."

Claire chose UNHINGED as an ode to her somewhat wacky sense of humour. "I'm pretty crazy," she admits. "I'm always running on this energy and am pretty extreme. Highs are high and the lows are way down. I'm also very analytical so I think I balance it all out by writing."

UNHINGED features the first single RUSH - OUT NOW
'UNHINGED' - released 23rd February - through Bluestone Records.

Interview with Clarie Clark - www.femail.com.au/claire-clarke.htm

This competition is now closed