diary 001

Claire Cottrill was writing about crushes and stressing about college when her DIY music video for “Pretty Girl” went viral in 2017. Suddenly, the Boston-area teenager was an internet sensation. The song, a sly empowerment anthem about a girl realizing her worth, set the tone for *diary 001*, an EP of endearing, take-me-as-I-am confessions. With hypnotic nonchalance and polite cynicism, she ponders love (“Flaming Hot Cheetos”) and authenticity (“Hello?”) in a digitally altered world. But in the end, it’s her quintessentially teenaged daydreams—sketched best in the Danny L Harle duet “B.O.M.D.,” short for “boy of my dreams\"—that make the project so relatable.

The lo-fi pop singer’s first label release is an EP whose careful songwriting and intriguingly flat vocals should quiet naysayers who dismissed her as a one-hit fluke.