Clairo - Charm

Clairo swaps bedroom-pop haze for warm, vintage-leaning soul on Charm, the 2024 album where her voice finally sounds completely at home.

Her third record follows Sling (2021) and marks a new chapter as her first self-released studio album. She produced it alongside Leon Michels, a craftsman steeped in vintage soul, and the pair surrounded her with seasoned players including bassist Nick Movshon, drummer Homer Steinweiss, keyboardist Marco Benevento and trumpeter Dave Guy. That band gives the songs a loose, played-in-a-room feel that suits her hushed delivery.

The result is lived-in and unhurried. "Sexy to Someone" struts on a rubbery groove and a disarmingly honest lyric about wanting to feel desired. "Juna" glows with soft-focus romance, while "Nomad" opens the album with a gentle sway that sets the mood for everything after. "Second Nature" leans into hazy, late-night intimacy, the arrangement swelling and receding around her voice like a slow tide.

Charm is the sound of an artist settling into her own skin, choosing feel over flash and restraint over spectacle. Nothing here is rushed, and details reveal themselves on repeat listens. It rewards a proper sit-down session, the kind where you let side one finish before reaching for anything else, and it sounds right at home on vinyl.