LA native Mara Connor shares a red-hot new single "Wildfire" along with a twisted 1960s-inspired music video. Just in time for Valentine's Day, Connor's directorial debut is a romance-gone-wrong with a surprising co-star, featuring iconic vintage wardrobe.
"Wildfire" is out now on all DSPs, one of four sizzling tracks from her debut EP, No Fun, due out April 3 via Side Hustle Records, the brand new bicoastal label run by the music industry veterans at Big Hassle Media. An EP release party is announced for April 18 at Zebulon in Los Angeles, CA - event info can be found here. - Note -- postponed
American Songwriter, who debuted "Wildfire," says, "Mara Connor Blossoms on New Single 'Wildfire,'" adding, "Somewhere between a mod balladeer and an indie folk goddess...'Wildfire' lets Connor shine brighter, revealing something sultry, something country, and something uniquely hers."
The classic folk-rock song was recorded at WAX LTD (formerly LA's historic TTG Studios, where legends like The Velvet Underground, Linda Ronstadt and Jimi Hendrix recorded). Mara enlisted the help of her friend Adrian Simon (son of Paul Simon & Edie Brickell) to produce. Drenched in the sound and spirit of Southern California, “Wildfire” features jangly 12-string electric guitar and giant “Wall of Sound” harmonies. Connor and Simon called on drummer friend Andrew Marshall (Billie Eilish’s drummer) and other LA musician friends to play on the track.
"Wildfire" was inspired by a windy night in Mara's hometown of Los Angeles. The infamous Santa Ana winds (referred to as the "Devil Winds" in the song) were tearing up the city. Mara fell asleep listening to Jonathan Wilson's "Gentle Spirit." Connor recalls "As the record ended, I woke up, picked up my guitar and the song 'Wildfire' came to me, fully formed...I like to think that the winds brought it to me."
Led by an all-female team, the retro-inspired “Wildfire” music video was co-directed by Mara and her filmmaker mom Kate Connor (Fort McCoy starring Eric Stoltz) and shot by Cristina Dunlap (Lizzo, Brandi Carlile). The video follows a fashionable (albeit deranged) young woman on a romantic escapade with her new beau, who is revealed to be a mannequin (a la Lars and the Real Girl in reverse).
Mara's co-star proved to be a "diva" onset, as it took a team of four female crew members armed with special wrenches to adjust the mannequin's every move. He fell apart in the swan boat, his lower half almost plunging to the bottom of the lake as Mara fought to keep him "together" until his handlers rushed to the rescue via pedal boat.
Connor arrived on the scene with her first single "No Fun," which was lauded by Rolling Stone (as a "Song You Need to Know" and in their "This Week in Music" playlist along with Neil Young and St. Vincent) and named Buzzbands' "No. 1 Favorite Song of 2018." Her follow-up single "Someone New," a duet featuring Langhorne Slim, debuted via Consequence of Sound and was also named one of Rolling Stone's "10 Best Country and Americana Songs to Hear Now" (along with Mavis Staples and Lukas Nelson). She made her SXSW debut last year and was called one of the "12 best up-and-coming artists at SXSW" by Greg Kot at the Chicago Tribune.
