Review Summary: A surprising curveball from Clairo & Co.
There are a few different interpretations that come to mind when I think of the word "charm". The ability to delight or arouse another person with a smile and a pleasant demeanor is a fairly innocent and innate quality that many people possess, but on the other hand, this quality can also be harnessed for ill intent—lulling one into a false sense of security before administering a poison. In the case of Claire Cottrill's third album, both are proven to be true. Now, I don't mean to say that
Charm itself is a lie sold under false pretenses, more so that its inviting analog world (a corduroy couch in the warm glow of sunlight, if you will) harbors an undercurrent that is surprisingly challenging and sometimes dissonant in nature. It's delightful as it is deceptive. No, this is not a continuation of
Sling, as the opening track "Nomad" might suggest with its soft keys, strings, and whisper-sweet vocal melodies. Nor is it exactly the groovin' summer bop that first single "Sexy to Someone" led me to imagine. There are elements much stranger, more experimental, and borderline psychedelic at play here.
Conceptually, there is nothing insidious about
Charm. It is very much an innocent attempt to capture the electric pulse between two people in various stages of romance. Meaningful glances, gradual obsession, the ever-distracting potency of closeness and brushed skin. Cottrill muses on courtship and heartbreak as her band drifts downstream on a shag carpet riverboat equipped with vintage synthesizers, mellotrons, wurlitzers, vibraphones, flutes, saxophones, you name it. Cottrill pulls from the same lush arrangement of instruments that accompanied her on
Sling and then fuses them with the breezy bedroom pop ethos of
Immunity in an effort to bridge the gap in her repertoire and discover something truly hers in the space between. It's within this symphony of wacky instruments where the oddly off-kilter and clashing harmonies lie dormant, waiting in the reeds to turn our peaceful boat ride on its head. Just the slightest shifting of pitch during the chorus of third track "Second Nature" was enough to shake me of my wits and send me scrambling to prepare myself for what I would later encounter in the more otherworldly tracks like "Juna", "Echo", and "Glory of the Snow".
Not all of these tracks are so far out, man, but Clairo threw enough curveballs into this record to successfully subvert my expectations. I had to meet her in the middle in order to gain some enjoyment out of this project, and I'm still not sure how much of that enjoyment is just self-imposed Stockholm syndrome from desperately trying to find the common thread that strings these songs together. Psychedelic folk, jazz, soft rock, soul, there's just a lot going on, and it doesn't always work perfectly. Ultimately, no amount of funky instruments and hippy-dippy antics can save a boring song structure. There is a fine line between meditative and repetitive, and some of these tracks do end up falling into the latter category. Cottrill's vocal performance also leaves a lot to be desired. Largely absent are the heart-wrenching and bittersweet vocal melodies of yore, and in their place is something much more aloof and less present, as if Cottrill is trailing off in a daydream. Maybe it's on brand for the vibe of the album, but it doesn't really help the songs shine as much as they could, and the result is a record that feels best suited for performing menial tasks around the house.
As much as a part of me wishes this album was just
Sling-but-better, I do respect Clairo for trying something new and swinging for the bleachers here. I would just caution everyone to drop your expectations at the door if you want to gain anything from the experience of
Charm. It's the definition of a grower, and I don't think I'm anywhere close to discovering all of its secrets yet.
