After the discharge of her 2019 debut album Immunity, Claire Cottrill might have capitalized on her music’s virality with one other slew of made-for-TikTok bedroom-pop hits within the vein of the LP’s breakout songs, “Luggage” and “Sofia.” However on her Laurel Canyon-esque 2021 follow-up Sling, the singer-songwriter opted for a far much less business route. Amid the pandemic, she retreated to her household’s dwelling in Atlanta the place she traded her earlier musings about crushes and awkward rising pains for tales of domesticity and a newfound sense of confidence towards romance. The softer, spacious album, co-produced by Jack Antonoff with backing vocals from Lorde, toyed with psychedelia and retro folk-pop channeling the heat of songwriters like Joan Baez and Carole King. However those that thought Sling could be a pit-stop or a one-off departure for Cottrill had been improper.
On her third album Attraction, Clairo elevates the aesthetic she launched on Sling and forges deeper right into a lush palette of Seventies melodies. Now 25, she is playfully blurring the traces of pop, R&B, soul and folks with the sounds of the Wurlitzer, mellotron, organ and piano swirling round her. This palpable shift of self-assuredness is due partly to her personal coming of age, but additionally a consequence of her tapping soul and funk savant Leon Michels (Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, Menahan Avenue Band) as co-producer.
Whereas her hushed vocals have at all times established a way of closeness inside her work, the Clairo of Attraction exists as a way more intimate foray. “Second Nature” is a steamy, ever-evolving earworm that oscillates from horn-flanked grownup modern to anxious keys. “It’s once you’re shut sufficient to the touch/I’ve forgotten the purpose/My practice of thought destroyed,” she croons with a dreamy lilt. Teeming with craving and need, the flute-flanked “Horny to Somebody” is the epitome of a attractive indie-folk anthem. The nice and cozy R&B groove of “Juna” permits Clairo to let go of her inhibitions amid a blossoming romance: “You make me wanna/Go purchase a brand new gown/You make me wanna/Slip off a brand new gown.” Flanked by twinkling piano, her ethereal vocals float on “Sluggish Dance” as she navigates the nuances of a situationship. “What’s it? That’s conserving one foot out/And the opposite crawling in mattress,” she wonders.
There are additionally simple moments the place Clairo builds on the pastoral nature of Sling. There’s the crystalline “Glory of the Snow,” the album’s opener “Nomad,” the place her velvety vocals float over a wistful metal pedal and the crushing cymbals of the spacey psych-folk “Echo,” which evokes The Doorways. However it’s Attraction’s delicate nearer, “Pier 4,” that serves because the document’s gut-punch, wrapping up the 11-track album like a comfortable knit sweater. The hymn-like quantity sees Clairo grappling together with her public-facing persona and the consolation of an introverted life. “What’s the price of being cherished?/When shut just isn’t shut sufficient?” she ponders over a swelling vibraphone.
Whereas listeners received’t discover Brat summer-esque anthems on Attraction, the album is a soothing balm, offering an understated rush that’s in the end simply as impactful. What Clairo proves is that craft is paramount and he or she’s primed to turn into one of the vital revered songwriters of her technology.
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