BYU student and songwriter Clara Henriod, known in the music industry as Clara Nicole, released her first mini-album, "Fallen," on Friday, Sept. 27.
With musical experience dating back to her early childhood, Henriod is a junior majoring in commercial music and a member of BYU Women’s Chorus. She worked on the tracks in her seven-song mini-album for more than six years.
The mini-album, also known as an EP, artistically illustrates the defining life moments Henriod has experienced. Themes such as loss and nature take center stage in the imagery-based album.
“It’s all very raw,” Henriod said. “That’s my favorite word to describe it.”
"Leaves" and "If the World Was Ending" are the highest-played songs in the album thus far, according to Spotify.
The EP was released in time for the height of fall.
“They’re very sad girl fall,” Henriod said. “They all have similar vibes.”
"Fallen" has provided Henriod an outlet for expressing her feelings since the early stages of its creation.
“I’m not very good at opening up except for when I’m writing songs,” Henriod said. “It’s kind of scary to be releasing it all because I’m like, 'Oh yeah, here’s my heart. Here’s everything I’ve ever felt in 30 minutes.'”
While releasing such a transparent record of her life to the world seems daunting to Henriod, she also loves how freeing it feels to let her thoughts and feelings loose.
“I feel like that’s the place where I feel my most authentic self,” she said.
Some songs on the album were born long before Henriod planned to release an EP. "Sparrow," one of the new songs in the EP, was first brought to life as a poem she wrote in eighth grade.
Henriod’s brother, Kimball Henriod, is a freshman at BYU. He explained the long and complicated nature of the EP’s production process, saying that his sister worked tirelessly with her producer to fine-tune the tracks until her vision finally came to fruition.
“I’m very happy that she waited and worked the extra hours because it turned out better than I could have imagined,” he said. “It’s a testimony that if you want things to end up well, you’ve got to put in the time, effort and revise, revise, revise.”
Clara Henriod received support from family, as well as friends, throughout the writing, production and publishing process.
Thomas Smith, a local guitarist and friend of Clara Henriod, played the guitar for the song, "Convinced."
“To be a part of the recording process meant a lot,” Smith remarked. “(I'm) so proud of Clara for being able to record herself and work with producers and be able to share her music with confidence.”
The majority of the tracks in Clara Henriod’s EP were recorded in her apartment's recording studio. Her producers assisted her in mixing and mastering the tracks.
With her mother being a voice teacher, Henriod naturally grew up receiving voice coaching and music lessons. She also took part in various choirs and groups such as Los Angeles Children’s Chorus and Broadway Bunch.
It wasn’t until the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 that Henriod began her journey in the contemporary music industry. Stuck at home, Henriod used her time to experiment with her voice and polish her songwriting skills.
Her extensive choral background assisted her in inventing many of the harmonies found in "Fallen."
“I just love harmony and many voices singing together,” Henriod said.
"Fallen" is not Henriod’s first debut in the world of commercial music. She has released four other singles, beginning with "I Tend to Run" in March 2023. "I Tend to Run" currently ranks as Henriod’s third most popular song on Spotify.
Henriod’s EP "Fallen" is available to stream on Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube and Deezer.
