Webdiffusion

Clerel

Cameroon native Clerel nurtured his taste for melody during a childhood that was set to the rhythms of church songs, local nursery rhymes and French pop songs.

 

A family move to the United States enabled him to study chemistry in Ohio, where he first discovered the acoustic guitar and began experimenting with solo performances and songwriting between lab sessions. A school visit to the Stax-Volt museum in Memphis in 2012 marked a turning-point in the young music-lover’s life. It would spark his love affair with soul music, soon to become an integral part of his musical expression.

 

Now based in Montréal, Clerel uses his poetic sensibility to create simple songs with sounds evoking soul, R&B and highlife. These songs are carried by his authentic voice, gripping from the moment you first hear it, as shown in his début EP, Songs From Under a Guava Tree, released in the fall of 2019. This distinctive voice led him to share the stage with Mavis Staples at the 19th edition of the POP Montréal festival.

 

In his songs, Clerel shows us the extent of his talents as a performer. His deep, gentle voice goes right to the heart. It is hard not to succumb to the charm of this amazing artist, who follows in the footsteps of Al Green and Marvin Gaye.

Clerel
Cameroun - Qc
Festival international Nuits d'Afrique - 35e