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Aug 12, 2024 By Marina Malin Web Exclusive

Charm, the third album from Clairo (aka singer/songwriter Claire Cottrill), forms a collage of introspective diaristic lyrics on top of impressive instrumentals that span across various genres—jazz, soft rock, bedroom pop, and psychedelic folk. The record captures the wide range of emotions felt when being charmed and charming someone. The fluctuations of passion are illustrated both lyrically and sonically through the intentional use of instrumentation. While sticking in the comfort of her hushed vocals, the success of the album lies in the instrumental embellishments weaved through almost every track on the record, transporting the listener to a new sonic sanctuary. These rich instrumental tidbits can likely be accredited to the collaborative work with producer and multi-instrumentalist Leon Micheals, who is known for his soul project El Michels Affair and Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings.

Charm opens with “Nomad,” which sets the tone to Clairo’s confessional, as she admits to being “touch-starved and shameless.” Expressing common desire for another, Clairo prefers to stick to her idealized dream of a connection, rather than its disappointing reality: “I’d rather be alone than a stranger / You’d come visit me late at night / I’d rather wake up alone than be reminded / of how it was a dream this time.” Not necessarily a plea, but a longing, Clairo manages to strike emotional strings in the listeners with her opaque lyrics that allow us to attach our own dreams and stories, making “Nomad” all the more empathetic. While the lyrics evoke subtle nostalgia, the track’s spattered thumps of cello and slide guitar create a contrasting orchestra of wind that is whimsical and romantic, evoking the incomprehensible feeling of a dream.

“Sexy to Someone” dwells in a similar sentiment of wanting to be desired, and reminiscing in intimately unnoticed moments with a partner that stimulates the universal desire for external validation. The track features perfectly instilled woodwind and trumpet transitions. “Glory of the Snow” contains a tasteful flute and some of the most beautiful lyrics on the record: “I pull on the string that binds me to memories of / The way I love you / I push on the door / The one I’ve ignored / The one that leads me to you.”

In the successful jazz-influenced “Terrapin,” Clairo surrenders to a deep preoccupation with the facade of a partner, leading her to lose herself in turn. “Thank You” is a poppy endeavor into seeking relationships you know are not good for you. “Slow Dance” contains piano layers, where every note dances around the next, chasing each other across the console. Each layer of piano tells a different and unnamed sonic relationship. Meanwhile, Clairo dances with disappointment in the avoidance she receives. Clairo’s accounts are all too familiar as a fellow 20-something-year-old girl, as she embraces femininity, sensuality, and the melodramatics of our generation’s dating pool.

Alongside “Terrapin,” Clairo’s sonic play continues in “Echo,” where she adopts the airy mischief of Melody’s Echo Chamber with heavy psychedelic synth. The two tracks and “Juna” see Clairo’s hushed vocals in full effect.

Concluding with “Pier 4,” we catch Clairo in a contemplative mood that emphasizes rare stripped back guitar work. Where previous tracks are born out of the obsessive disillusionment of romance, “Pier 4” is an utter release. The closing track is a grounding meditation where the mind returns to the body to embrace reality. Its sonic wind-down teaches us to proceed without clear conclusions or resolutions, accepting that acceptance of reality is a conclusion enough: “And if you need to disappear / you’ll have no reason to be sad at all.” “Pier 4” is quiet, honest, calm, and for once in the record, real. Clairo is no longer caught in the fantasy of charm. She leaves us questions that demand personal reflections: “What’s the cost of it, of being loved / When close is not close enough? / Where’s your line, when do you draw?”

Charm is contemplative in nature, yet its accessible lyrics paint familiar narratives whose emotion and vulnerability resonate with the audience who grew up alongside her. While some songs can easily blend together with Clairo’s stagnant hushed vocals and overall simplicity of the tracks, an eye for instrumentation displays Charm’s pristine attention to detail. It is hard to say what more Clairo could do with her hushed vocals as they are the leading aspect of her signature sound, but it’s her vocals that are the most underwhelming element of the record. Charm dives into the intricacies and butterflies in the early stages of romantic connections, transcribing its jitters, anxieties, and contemplations in journal entry like lyrics and emotionally interpretative instrumentals.

After spending 40 minutes ruminating on the experience of charm, taking us through portals of dream, fantasy, and slight disillusion, we find kin to Clairo, whose relational experiences mirror our own. Luckily, Clairo does not abandon us on the ship to dreamland, instead she provides support and grounding, leaving us with a key to introspection: “What’s the cost of it, of being loved? / When close is not close enough / Where’s your line, when do you draw?” (www.clairo.com)

Author rating: 7.5/10