This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
You might not recognize the name, but anyone who has watched television or listened to radio recently has heard Alex Clare's dubstep song "Too Close."
After the song was featured in Microsoft's TV ads for Internet Explorer 9, the song climbed into the top 10 on the Billboard charts and was inescapable.
In a phone interview, the 27-year-old British singer-songwriter said he doesn't own a television and never realized how popular the song had become. An orthodox Jew, Clare said religion is "definitely my guiding force. … Music is also part of the essence."
He moved to Israel after his debut album, 2011's "The Lateness of the Hour," underperformed and his label dropped him. But "Too Close" was on that album, so he is back touring the world.
"My life, thank God, is pretty good," he said.
His last album, he said, was "about getting things off my chest." The next album, "you write about happier things."
The Knocks open.
When • Wednesday, 8 p.m.Where • The Depot, 400 W. South Temple, Salt Lake CityTickets • $16 in advance, $21 day of, at SmithsTix