Sssh.
Be quiet.
I’m listening
to Clairo.
Streamed
the last record
so many times,
when this one
came out, Charm,
I could not
resist. Everything
in my bones
tells me I should
not like her,
but I like her
more than gummy
worms, the
good kind, more
than those
dark chocolate
peanut butter
cups you get
at Trader Joe’s.
I mean, she’s
like candy, but
miraculously,
candy that’s good
for you. Listen
once through and
you can practically
hum along with
those melodies,
as strong and as
memorable as
anything by the
great Bacharach,
and the music,
as quiet as it is,
underpins her
sweet/soft singing
perfectly, is
clearly performed
by absolute pros;
way more than
decoration, these
players are doing
things worthy of
our attention, that
bass playing, the
woodwinds (a singular
move), and those
understated but
percolating drums.
And she’s funny,
but quietly, like
everything else
in her music:
“I want to be
sexy to someone.
Is it too much
to ask,”
she sings.
Morrissey himself
could not pen
a better
sad happy line.
Notes on the vinyl edition: Charm, Clairo Records, 2024, opaque purple vinyl.
FYI: I’m listening to everything, A to Z, writing poem-like-things.
michael jarmer 