“Morales’ songs each tell a story, and while that can be said of most music, what stands out about this album is her ability to draw the listener in with the lush vibrancy of her voice. There is an almost 60s-like feel to the way that Morales’ vocals and guitar work blend with Ryan Williams’ bass and Russ Connell’s drum work…There is a hazy element to the album reminiscent of being somewhere between dream land and being awake…in those first moments when one does not want to wake up just yet for fear of losing the beauty of the dream.” – Ft. Worth TX Magazine

“Amaranthine sounds like Angel Olsen singing Jenny Lewis. She gets a sweet alt-country growl that warms up this Texas winter. “Waters Getting Low” rollicks in 3/4 time while Claire demonstrates her vocal control, breaking between falsetto and full voice showing worry and ache, longing and nostalgia. Dusty and new at the same time, her voice occupies an anxious in-between-ness of genres that glide from track to track; power pop, doo-wop, and country-gaze fill my L/R channels. Steady chord progressions show maturity from the band and their ability to develop an idea into sonic territory that occupies significant bandwith in an organic blissful state. I find sunlight easily when listening to Amaranthine. The album glows with positivity and forward thinking.” – Pop Press International

“Resting somewhere near the hazy intersection of shoegaze, folk and rock, Denton-based singer-songwriter Claire Morales’ debut LP Amaranthine bewitches from its opening moments.

Joined by bassist Ryan Williams and drummer Russ Connell, Morales…utilizes a kind of wounded beauty inherent in her voice…to convey vulnerability even as she maintains a slight reserve. The cumulative effect over these 10, lushly realized tracks is a riveting push-pull: Morales sinks the hook deep, singing evocatively of ‘voices that overlap and beg to be heard over the thunder,’ even as she keeps listeners at a remove. Vivid and frequently gorgeous — lose yourself in the gently cascading guitar figure opening Caravan — Amaranthine adds another troubadour of note to the ever-growing North Texas ranks.” – DFW.com

“…you’ll be utterly entranced by acoustic clarity and mindful lyrics.” – Dallas Observer

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Claire Morales makes music that sounds organic, spontaneous and easy, like Lucinda Williams or Shawn Colvin. But listening to the words to the tracks on her 2015 release, Amaranthine, and you start to notice a careful sort of habit, both about writing music and lyrics.
With a distinctive voice and assured playing, Morales takes a page out of Rufus Wainwright’s book — she cloaks deep, sometimes sad stuff inside of upbeat tempos and toothsome harmonies. There are exceptions. “Close to Me” is a more mournful, careworn song about wanting. And “Lie I Love,” a song about giving yourself over to comforting deception, is a howl at the moon.
On Amaranthine, she keeps things on a mostly folksy level, but lets loose with a rock guitar solo on “Serious Young Things.” There are hints of alt-country, mostly in Morales’ habit of trailing off into lilting half-yodels. It’s not a gimmick, but a way of seconding the central meaning of the album. And Amaranthine is about the stubborn conditions of life that return, season after season: regret, desire and restlessness.
Morales can hold forth on all these things without grating. In her rock-me-gentle approach, those things that prick the heart aren’t just persistent, but poetic.” – Denton Record Chronicle

“A solo acoustic singer-songwriter since she was 13, Denton’s Claire Morales put a band together and released her first album last year. The transition has been a resounding success. A recent performance at Harvest House for 35 Denton turned heads. People were looking at each other, wide-eyed over what they were hearing. Morales is a brilliant artist with one of the best live shows in North Texas.” – D Magazine

Named “Denton Band to Watch in 2015” – We Denton Do It