It’s been good to have a Clairo album with no unnecessary ‘discourse’ around it. Immunity was mired with nepo-baby bullshit (her dad is in music marketing. She kinda is. It’s not a big deal.), her excellent last album, Sling, got the usual annoyance that Jack Antonoff production gets since he became a Swiftie (joke’s on them ’cause she got his best production of the decade), but Charm is just independence, and peace. Hopefully, the lack of bullshit surrounding Charm‘s excellence can help let people focus on just how much Clairo has grown as a musician in these past few years. Clairo improves in almost every aspect of being a musician on Charm and even the parts of her work that stay the same are impressive seeing as she’s doing it without getting one of music’s biggest producers (Antonoff or Rostam Batmanglij) assisting her.
With that artistic growth has come a real improvement in production especially – even without those two legends. I’m not a hater of the aforementioned Antonoff’s occasionally paint-by-numbers production, and it has absolutely produced some great results when he works with the right artists (Sling was one of the successes) but I’m glad Clairo looked elsewhere, primarily Leon Michels, in addition to taking some of the production work into her own hands.
“Terrapin” has some of the best production on a Clairo track and is one of the years best. I had to check and make sure Anderson .Paak didn’t help with the drums (credit to Homer Steinweiss for actually doing it) because this is some of the smoothest, funkiest shit you’ll hear. After this album, Clairo should look into finding another white girl that she can create a new version of Silk Sonic with. Clairo’s vocals have always been very whispery, a holdover from her bedroom pop days, and the whispers just elegantly flow over every second of this track’s incredible drumming and piano playing.
The funk elements continue on “Juna”. Clairo is surprisingly good at pulling off the sexy elements you need to land a project with this much funk worked in. She’s very subtle with how she plays it and keeps it lowkey but lines like ‘you know me, and I might just know you too’ are very sensual and delivered perfectly. “Second Nature” has some more smooth ass drums and the track has a phenomenal beat switch on the bridge that Clairo flips perfectly. I love the incredibly smooth, groovy, and dancy beat on “Glory of the Snow”, Clairo’s performance on the guitar and the beautiful piano is excellent.
‘And once you get in my ear
I see kismet sinking in
It’s second nature
Like the sap from a cedar
Rolling down to be near her
It’s second nature’
One of my favorite parts of Clairo’s music is that compared to many of the other modern pop and indie pop acts, she’s actually able to write a fucking song. I hate the style of writing that’s taken over the genre that just drowns listeners with therapy speak and forced Instagram caption fodder. I am not a journal for you to vent about your shitty situationship at. Write lyrics. Clairo does, and she does it well.
She can write some damn hits too. “Add Up My Love” is a groovy ass track with some more great production, Clairo’s vocals flow perfectly over the beat, has one of the catchiest hooks on the album, and does a great job delving into doubt and self-worth in a relationship. The lead single “Sexy to Someone” was an amazing single and sounds even better in the album. Love how it manages to be fun and sexy while also giving off an extremely lonely and empty feeling.
“Pier 4” is a great moment for Clairo to take off over a simple guitar backing for most of the track. It does a wonderful job as Charm‘s closer, looking back on moments and themes of the album like doubt, isolation, and low self-worth. For those that struggle with intimacy, Clairo’s got you on “Nomad”. Sonically, it sounds very similar to something off Sling, more so than anything else on the new album, but Clairo’s writing has improved from then quite a bit and she’s able to perfectly express how intimacy can be very difficult for her as she struggles with not being able to go deep enough with the person she wants and not wanting to be casual with the people she doesn’t. I relate. “Thank You” feels like a bit of a follow-up track and some processing of those emotions as she begins to feel simply happy and grateful for the time shared. Love the beat too.
‘And if you need to disappear
You’ll have no reason to be sad at all
You’ll strike your own matches to logs
May catch an eye while you play sad and soft
And if you’re walking home alone
You’ll find a reason, you’ll just chalk it up
To being different, being young
And wonder why no one knew you at all’
My only real critique of Charm is that I do think it’s missing some of the ‘Holy Shit’ moments (besides “Terrapin”) that really blew me away on Sling. “Reaper” is still hands down the best song Clairo has ever made, the introspection on motherhood is incredible, and so are Lorde’s background vocals. ‘I can’t fuck it up if it’s not there at all’ is just a complete gut punch. Songs like “Wade” and “Amoeba” are lights out too. A part of this is that I have definitely raised my expectations for Clairo pretty significantly because she’s gotten that good.
While I may have wanted an extra highlight or two, Charm is a more consistent album than Sling was, and doing it without the help of a big-name producer is a sign that Clairo is starting to solidify herself as one of the most talented artists to come from that late 2010s Soundcloud pop bubble. Clairo has grown immensely from the novelty pop act she started as and Charm is one of the richest sounding albums this year that also still gives its creator some room to grow in.
