Kevin Bronson on April 21st, 2022

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Paper Citizen is the solo project of Claire Gohst, a Singaporean singer-songwriter, violinist, guitarist and producer whose music — indie-pop notable for its lyrical frankness, graceful melodies and spacious arrangements — is informed by personal conflicts.

Gohst was cast adrift by her family when she was 17 when they found out she was gay. Active in the music scene in Singapore, she accelerated her musical growth by coming to the U.S., studying violin and recording at Berklee College. After earning some acclaim in New England, she matriculated to Los Angeles. It is no wonder she describes her music as “indie-rock for a lost soul in a new world.”

Her warm, piano-driven single “Goodbye” (releasing this week) shines a light of hope and tenacity on her story. It’s the follow-up to last year’s “Wandering Gohst” EP and the singles “Over the Moon” and “Heart on Fire.”

Made with co-producers Sutter Hellwarth and Ainjel Emme, the new single is “about running towards something you cannot control,” Gohst says. “It’s the flame sparked in a haste, the explosion you couldn’t contain, shattering the walls you carefully built and consuming you in all your being. Even if fleeting and temporary, burning twice as bright and half as long, perhaps these choices reminded you of why you were alive. Can we still move through the experience, consciously looking back at the ashes with love and grace?”

||| Stream: “Goodbye”

||| Also: Stream “Over the Moon”

||| Also: Stream the “Wandering Gohst” EP

||| Live: Paper Citizen performs Saturday at the Echo as part of the Out of Mind Fest, which features Ramonda Hammer, Beginners, Spare Parts for Broken Hearts Support and VAVA. Tickets.