Alexander George Clare (born 14 September 1985) is an English singer and songwriter. His debut album, The Lateness of the Hour, produced by Mike Spencer and Major Lazer, was released in July 2011 on Island Records. He has since published four more albums, including an acoustic collection.
Alex Clare was born in London on 14 September 1985, the youngest of seven children. He grew up listening to his father's jazz records; Clare described the experience as a "...benefit of having a dad who was born in 1936... very much into bebop and cool jazz. I just loved it". From a young age, he was drawn to blues and soul artists such as Donny Hathaway and Stevie Wonder, which eventually led to interests in drum and bass, dubstep, and UK garage. Though he took up the trumpet and drums when he was young, he eventually placed an emphasis on guitar and songwriting, playing open mic nights with original material.
Career
2011–2012: Recording contract and The Lateness of the Hour
On 19 May 2011, Reggie Yates made Clare's cover of Prince's "When Doves Cry" his Song of the Day. A day later, the Dutch radio station 3FM announced "Too Close" to be the "Megahit" of the week.
In March 2012, "Too Close" was featured in several Internet Explorer 9 advertisements. Following its use, the song debuted at number 68 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and later reached number 7,[citation needed] becoming his first top 10 hit. "Too Close" peaked at number 4 on the UK Singles Chart in May 2012. In March, Island signed Clare to a distribution deal for The Lateness of the Hour to be released in the United States. Following disappointing sales and an inability to fulfill a support slot for Adele in 2012, Clare was dropped by the label.
In October 2014, ASCAP named Clare and Jim Duguid Songwriters of the Year for "Too Close".
2014–2018: subsequent albums and hiatus
Clare performing in 2013
In May 2014, Clare released the video for his single "War Rages On",[citation needed] the first from his second album, Three Hearts, which came out in August.
Clare issued his third studio album, Tail of Lions, in November 2016.
In September 2018, he published an acoustic album titled Three Days at Greenmount, which includes stripped-back versions of previous songs as well as unreleased tracks, recorded during a three-day studio session in Leeds in 2017.
2021–present: New single and Rebuild Again
In October 2021, Clare released the single "Why Don't Ya", following a five-year hiatus from the music industry. He also revealed that he had been working on new songs with the songwriter/producer Jamie Hartman during the COVID-19 lockdown.
In 2024, Clare published the explicitly Jewish-themed album Rebuild Again, a collaboration with the Jewish organization Thank You Hashem.
Personal life
Brought up in what he has described as a "very, very secular Jewish" environment, Clare became a baal teshuva to the Chabad branch of Orthodox Judaism in the mid-2000s. As such, he does not perform, travel, or work on Shabbat or on Jewish holidays. Clare also keeps a strictly kosher diet and maintains a schedule of Talmud study on tour.
In 2006, before gaining critical success, Clare dated the British singer Amy Winehouse (with whom he shared a birthday) for approximately one year.
In 2015, he and his wife moved to Jerusalem. As of 2016, they had two children together.
