Clarity Liao is a singer-songwriter from San Francisco who started composing music at age seven and was the main songwriter for the award-winning band Navillera. Now, she is stepping into the spotlight with her new solo single, ‘Hurt My Heart’. She wrote and recorded this technically impressive pop song when she was just 12. The track mixes vulnerability, complex chords, and heartfelt storytelling, drawing from indie pop, R&B, bedroom pop, and modern doo-wop. Clarity is already known for Navillera’s debut ‘Too Young’ (2024), which won the Yamaha National Best Popular Music Award, and ‘I Need You’, which took first place in the 2025 YMS National Composers competition. With her upcoming EP Dear…, she brings her maturity and emotional depth to songs that explore love, jealousy, and loss. In the interview below, Clarity talks about the story behind ‘Hurt My Heart’, her move to solo work, and what keeps her motivated.
What’s the very first memory you have of sitting down and writing a song?
The first song I ever wrote was more of a folk song for my brother and I in our imaginary world during our childhood.
Who are the artists you’ve been obsessed with lately, and which one would you most want to grab coffee with?
I would love to grab a drink with Cortis. The boy group who influences life in a “yolo” way. They seem super funny and outgoing. I love their music too.
When you’re in the middle of creating, what part of the process feels the most magical to you?
Hearing the fully produced first draft. Giving the raw song to the producer and getting it back is almost like giving a makeover to my music.
Looking back at your time as the main songwriter for Navillera, what’s one moment from that chapter that still makes you smile?
My band members were super supportive and fun to be with. I twas almost like a family. Every practice I would look forward to.
What made this exact moment feel like the right time to step out with your own solo music?
I started skyrocketing with the amount of music written, but my band couldn’t catch up. Even how much I loved my band members, it didn’t change the fact that the song I’ve imagined doesn’t come out the way I wanted.
Can you take us back to when you were 12 and first wrote “Hurt My Heart”, what was going on in your life that poured into those lyrics?
I started skyrocketing with the amount of music written, but my band couldn’t catch up. Even how much I loved my band members, it didn’t change the fact that the song I’ve imagined doesn’t come out the way I wanted.
Recording “Hurt My Heart” completely solo for the first time sounds intense, how did you push through all those takes to get the emotion just right?
I was never satisfied with the song. It wasn’t just right either, but I learned that perfect isn’t what makes the song good and that you truly believe that you still got your own word out there, in the song.
The song deals with betrayal by close friends and that deep loneliness of being left behind…how do you now, looking back, feel toward the younger version of yourself who went through that?
I empathize with my younger self. It was a hard time, but with each experience, I grew stronger. It is part of life, and it influences our actions. If that didn’t happen, I wouldn’t be a songwriter.
Your sound pulls from indie pop, R&B, bedroom pop, and even modern doo-wop, how do you decide which genres to weave together for a particular track?
When I make a song, I usually can hear what genre I would want it to sound like. I follow what I really feel at that moment and what my heart pulls me toward.
With the ‘Dear…’ EP on the way, what’s one totally fun or dreamy thing you’re hoping happens once it’s out in the world?
I hope I will have someone who will relate to the songs. Someone who will support me all the way because they love my songs. Someone who will recognize the hard work I’ve done And they would come out to see me on my tour.
Stream ‘Hurt My Heart’:
