green vinyl pressing

Clairo’s 2019 breakthrough albumImmunityfound her putting a mainstream-friendly spin on bedroom pop, but its Jack Antonoff-co-produced followupSlingfinds her going in a noticeably different direction. It’s warmer, looser, and simultaneously more maximalist and more somber.

OnSling, Clairo channels the folk, rock, and pop of the late ’60s and early ’70s, and fleshes things out with gorgeous baroque pop string arrangements and electric guitar flourishes that add a lightly psychedelic twang. Certain radio-friendly moments onImmunitysuggested Clairo could go full pop if she wanted to, butSlingfinds her closer to thelatest Weyes Blood albumthan to anything you’ll hear on the radio. Clairo previewed the album by releasing lead single “Blouse,” a gorgeous Laurel Canyon-style folk song that finds her lamenting workplace sexism (“Why do I tell you how I feel/When you’re too busy looking down my blouse?”). It’s the most immediate song onSling, but the rest of the album feels like it has the potential to grow on you more gradually. Some of these songs take a few listens to click, but once they do, their charms are impossible to ignore. – Andrew Sacher

tracks: 1. Bambi 2. Amoeba 3. Partridge 4. Zinnias 5. Blouse 6. Wade 7. Harbor 8. Just For Today 9. Joanie 10. Reaper 11. Little Changes 12. Management