Alex Clare

The demo earned him a contract with Island Records in the UK. His debut album, The Lateness of the Hour (album), produced by Mike Spencer and Mayer Lazer, was released in July 2011. The first single was "Up All Night", followed by "Too Close" and "Treading Water". On May 19, 2011, Reggie Yates covered Alex Clare's "When Doves Cry" as the song of the day. A day later, Danish radio station 3FM announced the single "Too Close" and it became a 3FM mega hit within a week. On June 21, 2011, Claire performed at Queens' College, Cambridge May Ball. On August 14, 2011 Claire performed at the Summer Well Festival in Buftea, Romania. After the album's disappointing record, Universal Island canceled Claire's UK contract. In 2012, Claire's song "Too Close" was featured in several advertisements for Internet Explorer 9. The song then peaked at # 68 on the Billboard Hot 100, and later peaked at # 7, becoming his first Top 10 hit in the UK. Claire also had success in Germany, reaching number one on the charts. Claire's song climbed to number four on the UK Singles Chart

Claire's upbringing was "very, very secular," and he became more religious in the mid-2000s. He is now an Orthodox Jew and, as such, does not perform, travel, or work on Jewish Sabbath and other religious holidays. He lives in Golders Green, northwest London, in an area densely populated by Orthodox Jews, but travels frequently to Jerusalem when work permits. Prior to her critical success, Claire dated Amy Winehouse for a year. They met while he was performing and working at the Hawley Arms bar in Camden, North London, which she often visited.