Acoustic songwriters Sam Clark and Yasmine Shelton, who make up the folk duo Basset, often look out the window of their Toronto basement apartment dreaming about going back to parts of the world they’ve fallen in love with. And it’s their appreciation for the natural world and its intersection with city life that can be heard in the freedom of their new single “At My Feet.”
The newest single from their album In The Clay is a meditative display that takes inspiration from the duo’s travels around Northern Ontario and the Canadian and American prairies and their lives in the bustling city of Toronto. Through their flawless harmonies and soft acoustic melodies, Basset explores the fears of a world holding on by a thread.
“We weren’t even planning to release it because it was so new, but that song felt like a release, an exhale of something we’ve been holding onto for years,” Yasmine said of the latest single. “There was a freedom in that song that we had never been able to give to a performance before that moment.”
According to Sam, the freedom and rawness of “At My Feet” was a product of last-minute decision-making when the duo had a few hours left of recording the album. The song was only a few weeks old, and after previewing it to the production team, everyone knew it had to go on the album.
“We made a quick chart for the bass player and recorded it all live right off the floor with just guitar, bass, and vocals. It quickly became one of our favourite songs on the album.”
Songs that were captured for the album In The Clay, produced by Joshua Van Tassel, explore themes of change and the natural world that came to the forefront of the duo’s minds as Sam and Yasmine transitioned from a life of academia into their passion of music. Basset’s true inventiveness comes from its vocal harmonies that create a unique partnership described as twin flames wrapped around each other in a warm fire.
