Charm
In a short time, Claire Cottrill has become one of pop music’s most fascinating chameleons. Even as her songwriting and soft vocals often possess her singular touch, the prodigious 25-year-old has exhibited a specific creative restlessness in her sonic approach. After pivoting from the lo-fi bedroom pop of her early singles to the sounds of lush, rustic 2000s indie rock on 2019’s star-making *Immunity* and making a hard pivot towards monastic folk on 2021’s *Sling*, the baroque, ’70s soul-inflected chamber-pop that makes up her third album, *Charm*, feels like yet another revelation in an increasingly essential catalog. *Charm* is Cottrill’s third consecutive turn in the studio with a producer of distinctive aesthetic; while *Immunity*’s flashes of color were provided by Rostam Batmanglij and Jack Antonoff worked the boards on *Sling*, these 11 songs possess the undeniable warmth of studio impresario and Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings founding member Leon Michels. Along with several Daptone compatriots and NYC jazz auteur Marco Benevento, Michels provides the perfect support to Cotrill’s wistful, gorgeously tumbling songcraft; woodwinds flutter across the squishy synth pads of “Slow Dance,” while “Echo” possesses an electro-acoustic hum not unlike legendary UK duo Broadcast and the simmering soul of “Juna” spirals out into miniature psychedelic curlicues. At the center of it all is Cottrill’s unbelievably intimate vocal touch, which perfectly captures and complements *Charm*’s lyrical theme of wanting desire while staring uncertainty straight in the eye.
Claire Cottrill’s third album sinks deeper into a soft-rock sound as her songwriting takes on an understated new confidence.
Charm’s subtle transformation of Clairo’s sound is perhaps the most important progression in her discography to date
On ‘Charm’, Clairo leans into the world she started building on ‘Sling’, using it as a base to explore desire – read NME's album review
On 'Charm,' Clairo transitions into redemptive, vibrant action across 11 pop gems packed with frustration and intimacy.
Working alongside producer Leon Michels to create a mini-universe, Charm is a grower of an album, Clairo growing with it.
At the beginning of the summer of 2020, Claire Cottrill, known to internet old souls as DJ Baby Benz and to millions of bedroom pop lovers
With her third studio album, ‘Charm,’ the long game of Clairo’s creative arc comes into greater focus.
By using a fleeting moment of attraction as its concept, Clairo's 'Charm' surveys the damage love affairs, both long-lasting and short-lived, can inflict.
Charm by Clairo album review by Ben Lock for Northern Transmissions. The artist's LP drops on July 12th via
Once known for lo-fi bedroom-pop introspection, the US songwriter embraces freedom to hit a breezy new high