Clairo – ‘Charm’ review: delving into desire

12 July, 2024

Clairo, photo by Lucas Creighton

When Clairo released her debut album ‘Immunity’ in 2019, she was on the cusp of turning 21 and still figuring out who she was and what she wanted. That record captured a push-and-pull between wanting to be independent and needing the comfort of another person; it also saw her taking early steps into exploring her sexuality. When she sang of desire on ‘Bags’, there was a nervousness and uncertainty that ran through the song. “Can you see me? I’m waiting for the right time,” she told a potential partner. “I can’t read you, but if you want, the pleasure’s all mine.”

Five years later and two albums on, Claire Cottrill is diving deeper into desire, more confident and in full control. ‘Charm’ doesn’t just embrace the feeling of wanting something (or someone); it completely owns it. “It’s just a little thing I can’t live without,” Clairo sings in ‘Sexy To Someone’, in which she makes plain that it’s all well and good being the desirer, but she wants to be desired, too.

She explores that craving in every element of the album, from the ’70s singer-songwriter-indebted sounds she weaves together to the words she softly sings over the top. Her delivery is often so hushed it’s as if she’s whispering right into your ear, whether it’s secrets, confessions or just candid musings. “You make me wanna buy a new dress,” she murmurs in the swooning ‘Juna’, quickly adding the seductive follow-up: “You make me wanna slip off a new dress.”

In ‘Add Up My Love’, she writes from a place of solitude, flashbacks of memories with a lover running through her mind and filling her with more longing. “Do you miss my hands sitting on the back of your neck?” she asks. “It’s just something I’m into.” On ‘Nomad’, she mulls whether it’s worth pursuing something with someone despite the distance between them. “I’d rather be alone than a stranger/You’d come visit me late at night,” she concludes. A little time shared, it seems, is better than none at all. In the breezy ‘Second Nature’, she articulates the world-spinning sensation of having someone right by her side: “It’s when you’re close enough to touch, I’ve forgotten the point/My train of thought destroyed.”

Musically, ‘Charm’ feels like an intimate invitation into Clairo’s world of desire. It’s rich and warm and timeless, the flutes and piano and bright cymbal splashes forming a soft, velvety space for you to nestle in and think about what you covet, too. It delves deeper into the sounds she began exploring on 2021’s ‘Sling’, leaning even more into the influence of Carole King.

For the most part, it’s a record that sounds bright and a little buoyant, bobbing through each track. But come ‘Echo’, the mood shifts into something slinkier and sultrier. Clairo’s voice comes in and out of focus in the mix, like she’s singing through suggestive clouds of smoke in a dingy jazz bar. Lines like “There is something that I need from you/And you’re the only one that knows” become heightened and electric.

“Honestly, I look back at those two records and see someone trying to become an adult and doing it in front of a lot of people,” Clairo recently told Crack, referring to ‘Immunity’ and ‘Sling’. In contrast, ‘Charm’ boasts a new level of maturity, its creator more poised and at ease than ever before. You can hear the level-headedness of someone hitting their stride in adulthood in ‘Thank You’, a song that reflects on a past relationship with gratitude. “I really hate to admit it/I put my pride on the line,” Clairo begins. “Cause when I met you, I knew it/I thank you for your time.”

While desire might be the main focus of ‘Charm’, it’s also an ode to connection and the comfort that comes with that – whether it’s fleeting or long-lasting, with a romantic partner or just other loved ones in your life. ‘Glory Of The Snow’, the gorgeously wintry penultimate track, pays tribute to the support of others. “When I cry, I wanna give you a ring,” she shares. “I can breathe with you right there alone with me.” In the end, that’s what the desire of ‘Charm’ boils down to – the yearning to see and be seen, to be with people who not only want you back but understand you and make life that little bit easier to make it through.