Cape Town continues to burst with new talent as singer Carletheia releases her debut single and music video for ‘Over My Shoulder’, but the singer and her team goes the extra mile as they make FOUR sensational versions of the song and music video available in its debut.
Carletheia is a new and unique talent: graduated from gigging and church-song, by day is a Swimming teacher and now also one of SA’s newest singing stars.
Her debut single ‘Over My Shoulder’ sees Carletheia work with an exceptional team that shares an experience that would not only just be a first single for her, but a first writing experience for her composers. First to be introduced is Derek Laud, who has made a reputation for himself for breaking boundaries and making history. It is highly unlikely that an academic has ever written a contemporary song. Laud is a Fellow at Cambridge University and visiting professor of London South Bank University. He rose to prominence, not because he was a script writer for UK politicians, but as a highly acclaimed star and contestant in Big Brother in 2005. Derek had never thought of song writing until Patric (from CapeTown Sound) suggested this. Not long after, he shared his folder of song lyrics he had authored and one of these lyrics was placed with the magnificent classical pianist, Clinton Claasen – currently on a sabbatical in Fraserburg in the deepest Karoo.
Neither Derek nor Clinton had ever composed a song before this.
Clinton produced a melody and structure to fit Derek’s lyric; a phrase out of the lyric became the title – ‘Over My Shoulder’.
Linked from London, to the Karoo and ending in Cape Town, where it reached Carletheia who happens to be married to engineer/musician/producer Sergio Gino Trout. The team at CapeTown Sound in Woodstock invested months of work into finding the right style and ‘feel’ for the song – ending up with 4 versions of ‘Over My Shoulder’ to cover different genres: Pop/chart, Soul, Adult Contemporary, plus a classical arrangement.
Talented Videographer Danie Nel created one video that fitted all 4 of them.
Watch the four music videos for ‘Over My Shoulder’ here:
Over My Shoulder (Original)
Over My Shoulder (Classique)
Over My Shoulder (Soul)
Over My Shoulder (HotChart)
The main theme for ‘Over My Shoulder’ deals with the destructive effect of substance abuse and Derek explains how this became the message for the single, saying “My first song is shaped by my own personal intersection with a friend who was hooked on crystal meth – the fastest growing substance abuse in South Africa and elsewhere. I had never taken drugs myself and was surprised when a friend turned to me for help. Except he didn’t want help, he just wanted another person to blame for his addiction. Maybe it’s the drug itself, but the overwhelming effect of it appears to be jealousy towards others who can make it without substance abuse. Stay clean if you want your friends to stay by your side.”
A powerful debut, not only for Carletheia, but also her songwriting team as they release a phenomenal single with an important message. With all four versions out now, there’s a sound for every type of music lover to enjoy ‘Over My Shoulder’.
Stream/Listen to ‘Over My Shoulder’ HERE
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