Clara-Nova

Sydney Wayser was born in Los Angeles, but spent summers in Paris with her French musician-filmmaker father, Jacques Wayser. She graduated from the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts then divided her time between New York, New York and Los Angeles, California[2] making her own music that was influenced by Jeff Buckley, Serge Gainsbourg, Rufus Wainwright, Loudon Wainwright III and Leonard Cohen, as well as women like Feist and Beyonce.[3]

When Wayser released her debut album, Silent Parade in 2008, NPR cited "her unabashed love for gloomy orchestrations and waltz rhythms. There’s the tinkling glockenspiel, a lone oboe, accordion and creaking string arrangements, with Wayser’s piano work steering the ship. It’s an appropriate backdrop for her brooding meditations on misery and heartache, all set in a world inhabited by lurking strangers and ghosts of the past."[4]

In 2009, Wayser’s album The Colorful was released,[1] and three years later came Bell Choir Coast. The latter album was produced by Dan Molad from Lucius and mixed by Shawn Everett.[5]

From that album, the song "Dream It Up" was used as the soundtrack for Billabong’s 2012 Summer Swim video.[6]

After Hurricane Sandy hit New York in October 2012, Wayser’s Brooklyn apartment was flooded. As a result, she moved back to Los Angeles where she created a new recording and performing persona called Clara-Nova which the LA Weekly noted "represents the evolution of Wayser, lyrically and musically. She's ditching the acoustic guitar for a standing keyboard and tambourine backed by a full band."[7]

As Clara-Nova, Wayser debuted live in January 2014 at the Sundance Film Festival,[3] and that March appeared on NBC’s Last Call with Carson Daly to support Bell Choir Coast.[8]

On 2014, her work earned Clara-Nova the ASCAP Abe Olman Scholarship[2] and that same year she was signed to a major label only to see that deal end with the label taking her masters. As a result, Wayser began rerecording that music.[9]

Clara-Nova performed at the 2016 edition of SXSW.[10]

Wayser spent 2017 singing backup for Lorde as well as working with producer Shawn Everett (Weezer,[7] Alabama Shakes, John Legend, Lucius) on a new Clara-Nova EP called The Iron Age set for release on March 2, 2018 on Kobalt Music Recordings. "The Illusionist" single from the EP was released September 29, 2017.[11]

As Clara-Nova, Wayser's version of the Simple Minds' ballad "Belfast Child" was used in the trailer for Ridley Scott's biblical film "Exodus: Gods and Kings" in 2014.[12] A year later, "Dear God", an XTC song covered by the band Lawless featuring Wayser on vocals was featured in a trailer for the Academy Award-winning film Spotlight.[13] That same song version provided the music for Outlander's season 2 trailer in 2016.[14]

The trailer for 2017’s Netflix film, Icarus, featured Wayser’s cover of the Cake song, "Going the Distance"

During her career span, Wayser has had her songs featured in a number of television shows highlighting scenes. From her Bell Choir Coast album, four songs were used in Shameless including "Dirty Work",[15] "Geographer",[16] "Potions" and “Wake Up”.[17] Grey’s Anatomy contained Clara-Nova's cover of Hall and Oates’ "Maneater" in an episode.[18]

As Sydney Wayser and Clara-Nova, the artist's songs have been used in national advertising spots for Madewell, Victoria's Secret, Old Navy, Billabong, Whole Foods and others.[11]

• Silent Parade (2008)
• The Colorful (2009)
• Bell Choir Coast (2012)
• The Iron Age EP (2018)

• Lawless – "Dear God" (2016)
• M83 – "Go!", "Bibi The Dog", "For the Kids", "Laser Gun", "Tension" from Junk (2016)[19]
• Ali Barter – "Light Them On Fire" from A Suitable Girl (2017)[20]
• Timberwolf – "Íkaros" (2017)[21]