Clairo – Charm

Three years since her last record, American indie-pop luminary Clairo has returned: today she confirms her third album, entitled Charm, will be released on July 12th. Co-produced by Clairo and Leon Michels (of The Dap-Kings and El Michels Affair), Charm is the type of gorgeous, ornate, sensual record only Clairo could create, an amalgamation of everything that has made her one of the most celebrated artists of the last five years.

The album’s first single, “Sexy to Someone,” is out today as well.

Evoking balmy summer evenings and tête-à-têtes in plush conversation pits, Charm is a collection of warm, 70’s-inspired grooves that move lithely between jazz, psychedelic folk and soul, an extroverted bounce back from her beloved 2021 album Sling. Charm was tracked live to tape between the Queens-based studio Diamond Mine Recording and Allaire Studios, which is nestled in the mountains outside of Woodstock, NY. Producer Michels, a renowned soul revivalist who boasts work with funk legend Sharon Jones and The Black Keys, was enlisted to lead the strictly-analogue recording process.

Clairo, captivated by the grandness and the sophistication of classic records by Harry Nilsson and Blossom Dearie, adopted their 20th century recording techniques as part of a musical tradition — in hopes of staving off their obsolescence in the digital age. In Charm, she reprises the live instrumental sounds she first played with in her 2021 album Sling, yet raising an even mightier ensemble of horns, woodwinds and vintage synthesizers, all while infusing the songs with a rhythmic foundation that recalls her debut record Immunity. The results are dazzling.

Indeed, Charm takes everything that has won Clairo legions of devoted fans all over the world to elegant new heights. At once delicate and soft, but still simmering with astonishing melodies and Clairo’s signature confessional lyrics, Charm is a welcome return to a masterful songwriter at her very best.

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