Somewhere under the Hawaiian sun, CLOVER takes my call, soaking in every last bit of warmth before heading back east. “I’m happily in Hawaii right now,” she beams. As she recounts her journey—both personal and artistic—it becomes clear that chasing the sun is a fitting metaphor for her music. CLOVER is all about warmth, adventure, and finding beauty even in the heaviest moments of life.

The singer-songwriter’s upcoming EP, Atlas, is a testament to that balance. A collection of songs born from a whirlwind pandemic-era love story, cross-country travels, and deeply personal grief, it finds CLOVER standing at the crossroads of adventure and introspection. And it all started in an improv singing circle in Brooklyn.

Love at first note

“Right before the pandemic, I met my now-fiancé at an improv singing circle,” she explains. “I was living in Brooklyn, and someone invited me to this gathering where you just sing without knowing what’s coming next. No music, no planning, just raw vocals.” One of the facilitators that night was Dani—now her partner in both life and music.

From that moment, their relationship unfolded like a road-trip movie script: a first date on a Brooklyn basketball court (which later inspired a lyric about a woman named Destiny who was, literally, calling the shots), a spontaneous trip to Mexico, and a sudden return to the U.S. as the world shut down. Forced to make a choice between separation and moving in together, they picked the latter. “Everything felt like it was happening so fast, but it just felt right,” she says.

Then came a detour to upstate New York, where CLOVER and Dani lived in a tent with a group of 30 artists. “It was a creative way to safely be in a community during the pandemic,” she recalls. “We were all working on our art in the middle of the forest, trying to make sense of the world.” As temperatures dropped, they packed up their Subaru Outback and took off across the country, busking on street corners when venues remained shuttered. That sense of restless wonder fuels the EP, but so does something much heavier.

The weight of the world

While chasing love and music across America, CLOVER carried another weight: the declining health of her parents. “Atlas,” the EP’s lead single, wrestles with that burden—the feeling of needing to hold everything together for those you love while realizing that sometimes, you have to let go. “We want to take care of our families, but we also have to live our own adventures,” she says. “That push and pull is what ‘Atlas’ is really about.”

Crafting a soundtrack for life’s highs and lows

Unlike many artists who stitch together singles to form a debut project, CLOVER’s EP is a wholly new body of work. “I wanted to create a full experience,” she explains. “With singles, you get these small worlds, but with an EP, you get to take people on a journey.”

That journey was shaped at the legendary Electric Lady Studios, where CLOVER found herself in a surreal moment. “John Rooney, who’s worked with Maggie Rogers and Clairo Dive, saw a video of us performing and reached out. After our show, he said, ‘I’d love to record your songs.’ I thought, ‘Great! Where’s your home studio?’ And he goes, ‘Electric Lady.’” She laughs. “I didn’t believe him at first.”

Recording in the same space where icons have left their mark felt, at times, otherworldly. “There’s an energy in that studio,” she says. “Sometimes, when I’m tracking vocals, I feel like I’m singing things that aren’t even mine—like all the artists who’ve been there before are co-creating with me.”

Making people cry (in the best way possible)

When asked which track she’s most excited for fans to hear, CLOVER struggles to pick just one. “‘Who Knew’ is probably the most out-there sonically, so I’m curious how people will react to that,” she says. “But ‘Joyride’ and ‘Anymore’ are the emotional gut-punches. Most people cry when they hear them, so I want to know if that translates to listeners who don’t know me personally.”

She pauses, then grins. “I don’t want to make people cry, but… maybe I do?”

The road ahead

With the EP gearing up for release, CLOVER is already looking ahead. A tour is on the horizon, and she’s planning to release another project this fall, this one deeply rooted in processing the loss of her parents. “I want to keep creating,” she says. “There’s so much more to explore.”

In an era where artists are expected to be content creators as much as musicians, CLOVER navigates social media with a careful balance. “I used to get overwhelmed by it, but now I try to make it a natural extension of my day,” she explains. “If I’m inspired, I capture it in the moment. It feels more authentic that way.”

Authenticity is, after all, at the heart of everything CLOVER does. Whether she’s busking on a busy street, recording in a legendary studio, or processing grief through song, she’s inviting listeners to step into her world—one where love and loss can coexist, and adventure is always just around the corner.

Atlas releases on May 30, 2025. Pre-save the EP here.