CAUTIOUS CLAY: MUSIC AS CONVERSATION

Multi-Instrumentalist Cautious Clay On His Newest Album, The Hours: High Noon, and How the Best Music Feels Like a Tête-à-tête

Taken from VALŪS Issue 004 Summer 2026 - order your copies NOW!

Written by BRANDEN JANESE

For many artists, finishing a project can feel more difficult than starting one. Closing a chapter means accepting that the work belongs to the people who hear it, and there is fear in the final cut. But for multi-instrumentalist and singer Cautious Clay, endings have never been the hard part.

Clay’s own latest project, a new album titled The Hours: High Noon, out July 31, is the final installment in his The Hours sonic multi-album saga, but just another step in his ongoing creative process. "I don't know if I have ever had a hard time finishing things," he tells VALŪS. "I'm not that type of artist. I make a lot of music, and I have a lot of ideas. If anything, it’s more about accepting. I’ve done a lot. I’m excited, and I’m living through what’s happening now." Rather than dwelling on what has been completed, Clay is looking toward what comes next.

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That mindset has shaped a career that spans the last decade. He has composed music for film and television, including three seasons of The Godfather of Harlem on MGM+. He has collaborated with artists like John Mayer and Remi Wolf, and his work has been sampled by Taylor Swift.

Originally from Cleveland and now based in NYC, Clay's songwriting feels like a balance between Midwest nice and East Coast tough love. His lyrics are conversational, generous, and refreshingly honest, inviting listeners in without dancing around a hidden truth. This effusive quality is intentional. The Hours: High Noon feels intimate, like the listener is eavesdropping on a private discussion.

"Writing has to feel conversational for it to speak to who I am as an artist," he explains. "That's how people remember what you're saying. That's how they connect to what you're saying. I think music has to be conversational for it to be good."

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The emotional center of the record is about communication, and what happens when that breaks down. Asked about the lyric, "All of my conversations turn into cage fights," from "The Light (4PM)," Clay describes it as a meditation on vulnerability.

"As soon as you try to be vulnerable, there is a lapse in communication," he says. "But you can't let that dim your light. Don't let that change who you are. Even if misunderstandings turn into a fight, you can't let that change you."

That same perspective appears on "Trail Mix," a song about the complexities of open relationships. Rather than assigning or sharing blame, Clay is interested in the ways people experience the same relationship differently.

"You want to communicate in a way that's transparent," he says. "But people are going to feel the way they feel, and that's not wrong. It's just different."

The Hours: High Noon embraces vulnerability, misalignment, and the difficult work of remaining honest with yourself even when it invites tension. Speaking with the artist feels a lot like listening to the album. There is a certain warmth to the album, a tone that emulates effortless charm and unmistakable magnetism—much like the man himself.

Be sure to listen to The Hours: High Noon out July 31st on all streaming platforms, and join Cautious himself for All the Hours with Cautious Clay, his highly anticipated album release party on August 4 at the Mr. Melo lounge in Brooklyn.

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Photographer | JAEDYN TALOR

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