This post was updated July 14 at 5:07 p.m.
By the grace of “Charm,” Clairo has pulled off a discography hat trick.
As she warmly hums, “When candles burn out/And the record has faded down/I know you’ve got people to turn to” on “Slow Dance,” Clairo enchantingly captures the tension between yearning and surrender that defines her third full-length album. Released Friday, the alternative singer-songwriter’s latest project is her most thoughtful, layered collection of tracks to date by force of the breadth of its sonic palette and dreamy lyricism. By elegantly fusing the most compelling sonic trademarks of her past two records – both engaging and stylistically distinctive in their own right – Clairo reaches new heights on “Charm” with producer Leon Michels, giving listeners the sense she’s found her perfect niche.
While the ‘70s soft rock stylings of the 25-year-old’s latest release appear worlds away from the viral lo-fi hits of a teenage girl who was once the face of bedroom pop, the tone of “Charm” still feels like a natural step in the artist’s evolution. On “Charm,” Clairo carries over the best pieces of her folksy sophomore album “Sling,” channeling its lyrical maturity and attention to detail given to each track’s instrumental while also shedding the 2021 record’s timid tone. With assertive vocals and experimental compositions, “Charm” ultimately feels much more confident and lived-in than its predecessor.
Across her 11-track exploration of desire, closeness and romance, Clairo floats gracefully between fantasy and reality – both lyrically and sonically. On mood-setting album opener “Nomad,” weightless strings soundtrack the singer’s reflections on the lengths she’d go for connection before whimsically exploding into a silky crescendo at the arrival of the chorus. Despite her hopeful tone and the ethereal instrumentals that envelop her words, Clairo’s confession, “But I’d rather be alone than a stranger,” is grounded and vulnerable.
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In the daydreamy “Second Nature,” a hopelessly enamored Clairo warbles, “Like the sap from a cedar/Rolling down to be near her/It’s second nature,” over scatting ad-libs and suave drumming. While admittedly less thematically complex than most of the record’s entries, it still excels as an untangled, satisfying love song. On the equally light “Sexy to Someone,” velvet smooth harmonies playfully soundtrack Clairo’s longing and meet-cute musing. At the arrival of the track’s bridge, this desire turns almost tragic as she sings, “I want to be sexy to someone (Is it too much to ask?),” with entrancing honesty.
Much of the record’s most affecting moments inhabit this same sneaky vulnerability. Despite being nestled away in the album’s middle stretch, a case can be made for declaring the seductive “Juna” the thesis of “Charm.” Alongside funky backing reminiscent of Roy Ayers’ Ubiquity’s “Everybody Loves the Sunshine,” Clairo sings, “You make me wanna/Go buy a new dress/You make me wanna/Slip off a new dress.” But at the chorus’ finale, she hums, “You know me/And I just might know you too,” reflecting the intense desire to be known that Clairo captures beneath the bubbly, sensual surface of “Charm.”
More noticeably on some tracks than others, an endearing fuzz envelops each track, and instruments echo in a way that feels raw and live. From the scattered laughter and sharp pauses sprinkled throughout “Second Nature” to the curt piano interruptions that electrify the verses of “Sexy to Someone,” melodies on “Charm” are rarely predictable. Ultimately, these “imperfections” and the album’s proclivity toward the unexpected are risks that pay off – maximizing both the record’s classic rock feel and euphonious jazz elements.
Production choices like these also cultivate the timeless ambience that radiates through “Charm.” Equipped with the daringness to be experimental and inhabit the stylings of a bygone era, Clairo’s vocals shine on the Carole King-flavored “Thank You” and “Add Up My Love” – both album highlights. While the former opts for bright piano and soft, well-paced vocals, the latter cleverly pairs a catchy funk melody with downtrodden lyrics as Clairo mourns a past relationship, wondering if her love was “ever enough?”
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While the psychedelic, bossa nova-tinged “Echo” feels like the type of dusty B-side gem one would stumble upon in a used record shop, “Glory of the Snow” feels similarly asynchronous as Clairo channels the effervescence of a Harry Nilsson or Alessi Brothers tune. Throughout the springy penultimate track’s instrumental feast, Clairo romanticizes mundane moments amid cheery woodwinds and echoing keys.
The reflective, epilogue-like nature of “Pier 4” makes for such a fitting album closer that it’s almost cheesy, as Clairo seemingly addresses the naivety of her past self’s approach to relationships. Yet as with so much of “Charm,” there is more than meets the eye. Rather than offering trite lessons on love, Clairo instead recounts moments of avoidance, cynicism and self-isolation with the softness of a lullaby.
Ironically, with “Pier 4,” Clairo plays on the anxiety and intensity of adolescence that her 2019 debut “Immunity” captured so well. Instead of interpreting these emotions as absolute, a wiser and more honest Clairo ponders how much of her younger self’s feelings of otherness and loneliness were self-constructed before softly warbling, “Oh, you’re just playin’ dumb/What’s the cost of it, of being loved?” With this finale, Clairo masterfully furthers the nuanced narrative of “Charm” by painting the record’s desperate desire to be loved and known as one burdened by fear of vulnerability.
By force of its stunning honesty and glittering compositions, the magical sum of “Charm” ultimately adds up to more than enough.
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