Clairo Challenges on ‘Sling’


The second album of the introverted but open-hearted musician “Sling” Clairo, inspired by two relatively common pandemics: Last year, 22-year-old songwriter and producer Claire Cottrill moved to New York City and adopted a dog.

Fans met Joanie, who is part food/Great Pyrenees mix, through Clairo’s. Instagram since he was a puppy. The musician’s gradual acceptance of Joanie’s cheeky addiction and unconditional love forms the emotional side of the album. (Joanie is also known for providing “bells” and “snoring.”)

An uptown attraction was Cottrill’s scenic Allaire Studios in Shokan, NY. told It had a transformative effect on Rolling Stone’s voice: “Seeing the mountains every day while making music,” he said, “I suddenly had the urge to honk to a song.” The transition from the soft kinetic pop of Clairo’s brilliant debut of 2019 “Immunity” to the folk-pastoral “Sling” is a dramatic sonic leap similar to Taylor Swift’s transition between “Lover” and “Folklore”. Naturally, Clairo co-produced “Sling” with Jack Antonoff, one of the architects of Swift’s Cottage of Sound.

Clairo first came to prominence, almost by accident, in 2017 with her charismatic, self-recorded video of her song. “Beautiful girl” it went viral. It was a YouTube phenomenon (75 million views), but now it feels like the first TikTok: a casually dressed, slightly bored teenage girl spending time in her bedroom with her camera and performing for an imaginary audience. The easy appeal of the video may have unwittingly diverted some of the attention to Clairo’s lyrics, but it led to a record deal when Clairo was 19 years old.

A strange, uncompromising, and non-commercial album, “Sling” doubles down on the shrewd defiant spirit already present in “Pretty Girl,” but this time Clairo’s target is not a narrow-minded partner but an entire industry ready to commodify. and earn money from your art.

On the idyllic but itchy “Bambi,” he proclaims, “I am stepping into a universe designed for my own beliefs.” The notable first single of the album, “Blouse”, features haunting backing vocals from Lorde, who worked with Antonoff; “Why am I telling you how I feel when I’m too busy looking at my blouse?” The two women hum like a long lost ’70s folk duo. “Mom, will you give me a ring? One for a stroll, one for the magazine,” she sings in “Management,” a winking critique of creating the kind of image she felt pressured to perform in the service of her career.

Clairo may initially have come off as an indelible product of the high-speed internet era, but the world “Sling” lives in is miles away from the nearest Wi-Fi connection. Its sound is proudly retro and modestly indie: Vampy Wurlitzers, wool acoustic guitars and wobbly woodwinds abound. Sometimes, “Sling” feels like Steely Dan’s “Pretzel Logic” was released on DIY label K Records.

Unfortunately, this sonic palette can confuse some of the less catchy songs, making the twisty melodies and slow tempos indistinguishable. Pieces like “Partridge,” “Wade,” and “Zinnias” get lost in the dense, dizzying undergrowth of their own creation.

Clairo occasionally sings to a low hum that rises with great emotion – “Sling” reveals her most direct vocal lead to be either Elliott Smith or Phil Elverum – and her various co-producers have tried different methods of recording her voice. If avant-pop producer Danny L. Harle threatened to suffocate him with bells and whistles on his 2018 EP “Diary 001,” Antonoff sometimes gives him too much room to roam. The atmospheric pop-minded producer Rostam Batmanglij, who collaborated with Clairo on “Immunity,” helped him find the middle ground, reinvigorated his sensitive sensibility without overwhelming it, and gave it structure.

Still, Clairo maintains this balance in the second track of the new album, “Amoeba”. Even more impressive, the acoustic ballad “Just for Today”, like the stunning “Immunity” song “Alewife,” sees Clairo as a lively reporter from the darkest corners of her depression, fearlessly. “Mom, I’m afraid I’m talking to the hotline again,” she sings, her voice childish with helplessness, but she is suddenly relieved by the revelation of this confession.

“Just for Today” is another testament to a pleasant surprise: there was always more depth to Clairo’s sadness and songwriting than the three-minute synth-pop sequence that made her famous could reflect. It also shows that his music is most clear and effective as an outstretched hand – or claw – pulls him back to the surface. The definitive version of “Just for Today” could be its demo. sent In January 2021, the night after I posted to Instagram. “At 30, your honey will ask you what’s wrong with me,” he muttered, and then suddenly he started giggling. Screaming, Joanie jumped to her feet and banged her guitar and tried to lie down on her lap.

Clairo
“Sling”
(Fader Tag/Republic Records)





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