Charm

by Clairo

Overview

After taking Clairo out of the bedroom and into the studio on 2021's orchestral folk/pop record Sling, Claire Cottrill did another re-think for her 2024 album Charm. She headed to the studio with Daptone Records heavy Leon Michels and his crew of musicians and resurfaced with a batch of laid-back soul-meets-soft rock tracks that show off Cottrill's feathery vocals and gently hooky songs to great effect. Where she sometimes sounded overpowered by the musical backing on Sling, here she's completely in charge as her keyboards and vocals slot in perfectly with the inventive work of the group. Never has she sounded as assured as on the bubbling "Sexy to Someone" or the almost insistent "Add Up My Love," and it's nice to hear that she isn't happy just sticking to her strong suit of wistful ballads. Of course, there are a ton of those here and they sound wonderful too. She delivers songs like the dreamy ¿Slow Dance,¿ the sleepily Stereolab-inspired ¿Echo,¿ and the sweet treat ¿Nomad¿ -- which opens the album in understatedly dramatic fashion -- with understated grace, and the mix of pianos, vintage synths, electric keys, and live instrumentation is pitch perfect and full of surprises. The bleating clarinets, breakbeats, male backing vocals, clicky drum machines, and flutes all dart into the mix to give splashes of color while the team of Cottrill and Michels judiciously drops dashes of echo and reverb to give the sounds a hint of a psychedelic vibe. This kind of vibrant attention to detail is a big change from her previous work, where it was easy to tune out as the music became aural wallpaper instead of truly engaging the listener. There's no problem with that here. Her music sounds like that of Tennis, but Cottrill has found a way to inject plenty of heart, soul, and low-key energy into a sound that can often lack all three. Too many times, artists who try this kind of backward-looking, blatantly vintage approach end up sounding like stiff museum pieces, but that's not the case with Charm. Thanks to the always-sympathetic production, Cottrill's dedication, and the overall strength of the songs, Charm has a living, breathing sound that makes for Clairo's most inviting and easy-to-love record yet. ~ Tim Sendra

Product Details

Release Date:	07/12/2024
Label:	Virgin Records Us
UPC:	0196922870552
Rank:	195

Tracks

1. Nomad
2. Sexy to Someone
3. Second Nature
4. Slow Dance
5. Thank You
6. Terrapin
7. Juna
8. Add Up My Love
9. Echo
10. Glory of the Snow
11. Pier 4

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Clairo   Primary Artist