Psychic Seatbelt

Psychic Seatbelt is the latest project of Claire Hamilton, a singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist with a rich and varied history across two decades in the Austin music scene. Hamilton fronted early-aughts rockers The Breathers, and was one-half of the creative force behind chillwave/dream-pop combo Paraguay. In 2016, she formed psych-rock trio Queue Queue, who wowed audiences with their ferocious live shows and caught the ear of Austin radio and media. Queue Queue’s final LP in 2019, Fang & Claw, spawned the single and video for “Oprah” which received widespread airplay and critical raves for Hamilton’s “sardonic lyrics about misogyny and the mundane.” Like so many artists, Hamilton spent 2020 woodshedding solo, sketching demo tracks, trading files, and searching for new ways to create under challenging circumstances. Reaching out to close friends like Jon Sanchez (Chrysta Bell, Roky Erickson) and Thor Harris (Swans, Shearwater), Hamilton dove into exploring acoustic/psyche/alt folk modes and stretching her sound to encompass her wide-ranging influences. (How many artists are equally inspired by Nirvana and Mahavishnu Orchestra?) “I’m looking at it as an exploration to find and put together elements that have been swirling around inside me for years,” she says. “Hopefully into something that makes people feel like they can get through at least the first half of their workday when they hear it, with less coffee or maybe more coffee if they want to get crazy with it.”