Stina Marie Claire (the experimental pop project of Honeyblood’s Stina Tweeddale) has resurfaced for the first time since releasing her EP A Souvenir Of A Terrible Year in 2021, this time with news of another EP and a revised version of her fan-favourite tune ‘The Human Condition’ (which you can hear below). 

Released on ICEBLINK LUCK records, the limited edition, vinyl-only release will feature A Souvenir Of A Terrible Year in full alongside Memento, which Tweeddale describes as a ‘bold, reimagined live version complete with sweeping string arrangements.’ Recorded live with a full band and string section at MacArts (a former 19th-century chapel turned music venue and arts centre in the Scottish Borders), Memento was produced by Stephen A Watkins. It’s currently available to pre-order until Saturday 31 May on Stina Marie Claire’s site. 

We chatted with Tweeddale about the new EP and lead single ‘The Human Condition’ to find out why now was the right time to revisit her Stina Marie Claire alias. 

What can you tell us about the EP? 

With this project, I am self-releasing via ICEBLINK LUCK which gives me space to experiment. I've always wanted to do string rearrangements of my work and wondered what they would be like, and to enlist Laura Jane Wilkie to craft that was magical. She's a force with a fiddle! As was working with Alice Allen on cello, her rhythmic playing is mesmerising. The songs have been truly ‘reimagined’, but I wanted to keep that certain grittiness in my songwriting, which is why Craig Harkess is behind the drum kit on the entire EP. It was pretty ambitious to record strings and drums live in a chapel, but Stephen A Watkins did an incredible job as producer, capturing the essence of our performances of these songs yet elevating them to a gorgeously polished place.

Doing a vinyl only release has been a bit controversial. But that's kinda why I decided to do it. First off, we really wanted to do an ICEBLINK LUCK vinyl, something tangible that lasts forever. We wanted a memento in itself. It can be disheartening at times, to work so hard on your music only to see it flutter away in the wind when it doesn't get put on those 'important' playlists. We know how unfair that system is to nearly everyone involved, so this is my way of claiming a bit of that back in the small space that I can.

What was the inspiration behind ‘The Human Condition’? 

It’s a song about the vulnerability of being human; recognising the flaws in our nature and the futility of expecting others to be anything more than that. It’s about realising that it’s not about who made the mistakes, but that making them is inherently part of life and in the end, inevitable. 

What made you revisit Stina Marie Claire? 

The Stina Marie Claire project was a place for me to explore a softer side as a songwriter. I really enjoyed the entire process working with my Patreon community, and putting together the original EP in 2021. It was so nice to have a fan-based sounding board, who really understands my work... sometimes better than I do! We did a few shows post-covid and they were so wonderful, so it felt natural to want to capture that on tape. I've actually been sitting on the recordings for a few years, but running the label ICEBLINK LUCK is a labour of love for Robert Kilpatrick and me. We have to work around some busy schedules!

Memento is available for pre-order until Saturday 31 May / main picture: Craig McIntosh.