Review: Clario’s “Sling” Fulfills Her Sky-High Potential

TL, DR - This album is great, lyrically and musically. 8.5/10

Hi! What’s up? Are you doing well? I hope so. 

Want to give a brief shoutout to a couple of new subscribers who subscribed from today’s Substack shoutout thread - welcome, and please know that you guys are my first subscribers that I’ve never met in person. That’s cool!

This is my first full-length album review EVER, so bear with me as I try to figure out my style. Now, why am I reviewing an album from July as a “recent” album review? There’s a very short explanation.

This morning on the way to work, my wonderful girlfriend was humming Clairo’s fantastically catchy “Amoeba.” I started humming it too, which prompted her to suggest that I review “Sling” in full, since it came out just too late to make my “best of the first half” list.

Keagan, this is for you. I love you, and you’re welcome. Now, to Claire Cottrill, or Clairo.

Clairo’s 2019 album “Immunity” is great. It’s got a couple of popular alternative radio songs, “Bags'' and “Sofia,” and it’s a really solid debut effort overall, especially at age 21. 

It also prevented Cottrill from fizzling out after the massive success of her 2017 single “Pretty Girl,” a teenage indie lo-fi track that gained viral popularity within a teenage indie lo-fi crowd. 

Her 2018 EP “Diary 001,” didn’t do much to remove the “bedroom pop” label slapped on her by music critics, but “Immunity” proved that Cottrill could mature her sound, and that she wasn’t just another teenage songwriter.

Unfortunately, our timing is not always right. The two years following “Immunity”’s August 2019 release were not exactly conducive to songwriting and creativity.

For an artist like Clairo, who bases a good chunk of her songs on life experience, bisexual romance and the difficulties of her early 20’s, the pandemic couldn’t have brought much inspiration. It did, however, bring more maturity to her songwriting mindset.

“Immunity,” despite its positives, is full of scattered songwriting. It’s an odd mix of hip-hop backbeats, rock influences, children’s choirs, and a myriad of other things. The Music is Good, but it doesn’t hold a consistent thread or paint a strong narrative - something many knew that Cottrill was capable of.

It may be scattered, but it sounds great. It helps that Rostam Batmanglij of Vampire Weekend fame produced the record, and Danielle Haim helped with some instrumentation behind the scenes.

Overall, I really like “Immunity,” because it’s honest and fun. It sounds like it was written by a 21-year-old with immense potential. This is a good thing by all accounts, but it also puts a large amount of pressure on Cottrill to deliver something great to follow it up. Lucky for us, she did.

2021’s “Sling” has everything you can ask for in a sophomore album. It’s focused, it’s mature, it’s lyrical, it’s introspective, and it’s beautiful. 

It also swaps out Rostam for superproducer Jack Antonoff, who’s been on a roll with “escape to the woods and write sad songs” albums lately.

Cottrill spends 45 minutes paying tribute to the legendary folk women of the 70’s like Joni Mitchell and Stevie Nicks, as well as introspective singer-songwriters like Elliot Smith.

Late-album instrumental track “Joanie” is named for Cottrill’s dog, who is named after Joni Mitchell. She actually lists Joanie the dog as a major inspiration for this album.

claire cottrill @clairo

‘Sling’ out July 16th 🦘

“Sling” is missing the pop sensibilities of “Immunity,” but that’s to its benefit. Cottrill, as well as the rest of us, have had a rough two years. It’s not time to make pop music anymore.

It’s time for uncomfortable lyrics sung in comforting harmonies, accompanied by soft guitar and piano tones.

Musically, this album is near-perfect. I’m a sucker for the same kinds of folk as Cottrill is, so I really enjoy the instrumentation here. 

The electric guitar is quintessential 60s/70s, with the unmistakable soft yet pervasive tone of a sentimental Beatles track. The acoustic guitar is straight off of a Joni Mitchell record. The piano sounds like one that’s been sitting in a cabin, slowly de-tuning as it waits to be used. 

Just perfection. Lyrically, the aforementioned perfection persists.

“Blouse” is a favorite of mine on this record, and a home for some of those uncomfortable lyrics. 

At first listen, it may seem like a romantic track, but Cottrill says it’s actually about her experience with sexual objectification in the workplace. Clairo has been outspoken about predatory behavior in the music industry before, and this song seems to be the summation of that. 

The tragic line “If touch can make them hear, then touch me now,” is a defeatist take on workplace objectification - if this is what it takes for you to listen to me, then I guess you can go ahead.

Lyrics from “Blouse,” as well as tracks like “Management” that discuss burnout in her already years-old music career, suggest that Cottrill is wise beyond her years. “Reaper” describes the societal pressures of motherhood, something that people in their early 20’s don’t often think about.

“Sling” is a musical manifestation of the growth that Cottrill has experienced over the past two years, something we’ve all done as we continually get exposed to the difficulties and evils of the world.

I think this album resonates so much with me because Claire and I are at the same stage of our lives. She just turned 23 in August, and I’ve got about three months until I’m right there with her. 

We both entered a transformative time in our lives during the pandemic, which kind of put everything on pause and prevented us from making the same dumb mistakes as our 20-something forefathers.

If the past four pages of content haven't convinced you to take 45 minutes to listen to “Sling,” let me ask this of you: take 45 minutes and listen to “Sling.” It’s one of the best albums I’ve had the pleasure of listening to this year, and I’m happy that I took the time to give it my full attention. It deserves yours.

I expect Clairo to be one of the defining musicians of Generation Z, and I’m excited to hear what she has to say next.

Alright, that’s all I’ve got for you this week. Here’s a playlist with artists and songs mentioned in today’s newsletter, as well as some really good sad indie and folk music sung by women, because I hate you and want you to cry.

Don’t forget to subscribe if you aren’t already - if you’re reading every week and not subscribing, thank you but please just put in your email. Share this around and send to fellow Clairo enjoyers, if you’re in the mood to help me out.

Talk to you Monday for an interesting collaborative project I’ve got going on. Here’s a hint: it involves A$AP Rocky, but he’s not the person I’m collaborating with. Talk soon, miss you already, love you.