[Photos by Jeslyn Wang]
Like most teenage girls, I began to curate my music taste by deep diving into bedroom pop, indie, and subsequently, Clairo. Claire Cottrill’s “Flaming Hot Cheetos,” “4EVER,” and “Pretty Girl” soundtracked my youth, tying together memories of mustard yellow, mom jeans, old crushes, and the girl I used to be. Hearing the oh-so-common but oh-so-frustrating feelings being put into lyrics was comforting: while Clairo was producing music in her room, I was listening to it in mine.
But since then, both Clairo and I have grown. Every album has had a distinct sound, each evolving from the bedroom she started in but no less authentic. Her third and newest album, Charm, showcases an honest interpretation of being charmed by someone –the intimacy, uncertainty, and feeling of falling into free fall– to a mix of folk, jazz, and indie-pop.
It’s night one of Clairo’s five-night residency at The Fonda before she embarks on a North American and European tour for Charm, and I’ve waited all summer to hear it live. But before Clairo comes on, alternative, hip-hop duo Paris Texas rouses the crowd up first. Made up of Louie Pastel and Felix, their listing as the opener was a hot topic of discussion between Jes and me on our way to the venue. How could the energetic duo who performed at last year’s Camp Flog Gnaw festival to Tyler, the Creator, Earl Sweatshirt, and Teezo Touchdown enthusiasts excite the Clairo fans ready to hear her dreamy voice and easy melodies? Though I was eager to hear them live, thinking back to the low-quality livestream I watched of them last year, I was worried about the dissonance between fans and their music taste.
By the time we arrived, set back by a wrong turn that led us straight into the mayhem of the Hollywood Bowl, Paris Texas was in full swing. The setlist included popular songs like “Force of Habit” and “girls like drugs” as well as songs off of their most recent album, MID AIR. Their personality shone throughout their set: songs were interjected by demands for “all sexy ladies to make some noise” and directions to open up a mosh pit in the middle of the floor. The vibrating bass and pulsating lights to lively “NüWhip” were infectious, with the crowd stomping along to the beats. What I had considered an unlikely pairing was the perfect start to a more low-key night, one that Paris Texas couldn’t miss either as I watched them slip into the crowd for the rest of the show.
“After Laughter” by Wendy Rene played as the lights flicker on to reveal the small, half-moon band setup with Clairo in the middle. Clairo walks in, holding a tray of empty glasses and a wine bottle that she passes around to her musicians. She treats them and then herself to glasses of wine, poured and served in front of the audience. They whisper among themselves, smiling and sharing conversation as those at the barricade strain to hear. Though it’s 9PM by now, the night does nothing to mask the heat wave plaguing Los Angeles –and I would love nothing more than for her to offer a glass to me as well.
Sporting shiny black Mary Janes, a red award ribbon on her chest, and wired headphones, she looks exactly how she sounds: soft and dreamy. The setlist includes all 11 tracks off of Charm as well as fan favorites from her earlier works: Sling, Immunity, and EP diary 001. The transitions between old and new tracks ensure fans find their personal favorites among the mix but they also highlight Clairo’s newest work to her bedroom-produced beginnings.
She starts the night with “Nomad”, the first track off of Charm. I was nervous that her gentle vocals would get lost under the excited chatter of fans, but her presence and voice controlled the room and in this case, the entire theater. Following the gentle ambiance of the first three Charm tracks, the first “tu-tu-ru-tu-tu” of “Flaming Hot Cheetos” has the crowd gasping and whipping out phones to record. The crowd was content to listen to her sing at first, but even she knows it’s popular as she rings out, “I better hear you on this one.” It’s dreamy and nostalgic and suddenly I’m 15, listening to the lyrics, “Girlfriend or girl that’s a friend? / It’s easy just to pretend / That we don’t have something real” for the first time all over again.
The first time I listened to Charm, I didn’t fully understand it. It wasn’t until the second or third time that I realized how each song worked together to craft the entire project. Charm isn’t just for lovestruck souls or heartbroken recluses, it’s for everyone in between. I had known that the album was brimming with different musical instruments, each a puzzle piece to the entire track but hearing it live was an experience I didn’t know I needed.
The groovy piano melody in “Thank You,” the colorful flute on “Add Up My Love,” the absolutely mesmerizing saxophone solo at the end of “Bags,” and the middle of “Juna” all flooded the senses and breathed life into me.
As Clairo moves through “Bags,” the crowd electrifies, with voices almost drowning her out completely. She’s strumming away and there’s a mounting drum tempo in the back of my mind, but “Can you see me, I’m waiting for the right time?” is spilling from both my lips and the girl next to me. At that moment, I’ve never felt so connected to a group of strangers. A short audio mishap has Clairo exclaiming in surprise but “I should probably keep it all to myself” reverberates off the walls –after all, every single person knows the lyrics to “Bags”.
“Sexy to somebody” is jazzy. It’s honest, it’s human, and it’s me. Wanting to be wanted? Noticing beauty in the world and wanting the same for yourself, is it too much to want? I ask myself if every Clairo song can be so deeply relatable and every time the answer is yes.
“You make me wanna / Go dancing (You make me wanna) / Try on feminine (You make me wanna) / Go buy a new dress / You make me wanna / Slip off a new dress”
“Juna” by Clairo
“Juna” has proved to be the most popular song off Charm, inspiring viral, heartwarming trends across social media platforms with the understanding: to be loved is to be known. From favorite coffee orders, size shoes, and signature perfume, being known authentically is intimate. It’s proof of being listened to, watched, and cared for. Returning the love is effortless and inevitable. To have spent so much time with someone that who you are and what you like is engraved in their memory and the way they live –”Juna” captures being in love stunningly. As Clairo wraps up, the piano keys drifting into memory and the night with it, I can’t help but think she has charmed me completely.
