Photo: “Charm” (2024) by Clairo Album Cover
“I came to the conclusion that, to me, charm is the moment when two people meet, and they have separate life experiences, all their own stories, and feelings, and then they tell each other the first layer,” says Clairo in an interview with Amanda Petrusich of the New Yorker, “‘I’m from blank, and I do blank.’” There’s this beautiful haze and buzz when you’re still imagining the rest of it. That feeling is so good.”
In February of this year, I was in a severe music drought. Nothing could strike me the right way. I did all that I could, but in the cold months of the spring semester, almost nothing could warm me up. For the few months prior, I had realized that Clairo was different from most artists nowadays. Clairo has her own radio show through NTS Radio. Shaded by her alter ego “Baby Benz, Inc.,” she takes to her Instagram to invite her listeners to “talk about whatever. send a field recording. shoot over your grocery list.” I never thought much of her Instagram story advertisements until I tuned in to NTS radio that February.
For the fateful edition I tuned in to, her prompt was “what charms you?” And charmed I was. Live, she interweaves her musical choices between careful admittances from her fans. She closed out this show by saying, “The next time I am live, I will have new music for you.” The warmth at the end of the spring semester’s tunnel felt closer than it did at the top of the hour.
In her third studio album, “Charm” (2024), Clairo drinks from the roots of swooning jazz, yet remains true to her old faithful indie rock sound and her intimate songwriting.
A major element for most musicians growing in recent years is properly creating and executing an “era.” We saw this grow wings with Taylor Swift’s albums, eventually leading into Charli XCX’s “brat” era. Clairo’s era was almost entirely perfectly curated in the sense of her inspiration.
I have never felt more connected to an album’s “era” in a way that drew from inspiration. On Clairo’s radio show, she notes that she pulled from artists such as Minnie Riperton and Walter Wanderly, from an era of longing where the simplest charm could move mountains. She takes this sound, this basis of inspiration, and redefines it for her modern audience.
In “Charm,” Clairo does not shy away from the signature sound her fans adore, even with her notable transition away from Jack Antonoff to a new producer, Leon Michels. The production is similar to her previous album but includes more variety in range, warmth and instrumentation.
Her whispering, almost hesitant tone shines through for the third album straight. She draws her listeners in with her intimate approach, making you feel like she’s reading an excerpt from her diary out loud for you, and only you, to hear. Her album contains bits and pieces of her previous eras: “Pier 4,” “Glory of the Snow” and “Terrapin” are dotted and crossed with elements of her second record, “Sling” (2021). “Sexy to Someone” and “Add Up My Love” are elevated versions of the indie pop she provided in “Immunity” (2019).
“Charm” is one of the most memorable albums of the summer and a step up in Clairo’s musical journey.
Olivia Karczewski is a third-year Media & Culture major with a minor in Journalism. OK992873@wcupa.edu