Clairo

The Arc of Clairo

The pivots — what forced Clairo to reinvent.

1. 01

   The MacBook Pro Years

   Between 2014 and 2017, the sound was entirely defined by the limitations of GarageBand and the acoustics of a suburban bedroom. Releases like 'Diary 001' relied on stock plugins and dry, deadpan vocals that felt intimate because they were literally whispered to avoid waking up the house. It was the peak of the 'lo-fi' aesthetic where the hiss was the point, creating a direct line between the artist and a digital audience that valued relatability over production value.

2. 02

   The Rostam Pivot

   Everything changed when she got into the studio with Rostam Batmanglij for 'Immunity' in 2019. He moved her away from the tinny, programmed percussion and brought in Danielle Haim to play real drums, giving the songs a physical weight they never had before. You can hear the shift in the dynamics of 'Bags,' where the distorted guitar melody actually fights against the clean pop structure. This was the moment she transitioned from an internet phenomenon into a songwriter who could command a professional studio environment.

3. 03

   The All-Analog Retreat

   For 'Sling' and 'Charm,' she retreated to Allaire Studios and Electric Lady to work with Jack Antonoff and Leon Michels, ditching the modern pop grid entirely. She traded the synths for a Rhodes piano and Wurlitzer, focusing on intricate vocal harmonies that recalled 1970s folk-rock. The result is a total rejection of the high-energy festival circuit, opting instead for a warm, hazy sound that prioritizes the texture of live instruments over a radio hook.

Influences

• The Magnetic Fields — She has explicitly cited Stephin Merritt’s '69 Love Songs' as a primary text for her early songwriting. You hear it in the dry, unadorned delivery and the way she uses simple, repetitive synth melodies to carry heavy emotional weight. It’s the same deadpan-but-vulnerable DNA.
• Elliott Smith — She’s covered 'Between the Bars' and frequently references his double-tracked vocal technique as her blueprint. That whispered, hushed intensity on 'Sling' is a direct descendant of Smith’s intimate home-recording style. She’s chasing that same feeling of a ghost singing in your ear.
• Cocteau Twins — She pointed to Elizabeth Fraser’s vocal layering as the inspiration for the wash of sound on her more experimental tracks. While she doesn't use the same gloss, the way she stacks harmonies to create a 'cloud' of sound on 'Immunity' is straight out of the 4AD playbook. It's about the texture of the voice as an instrument.
• Carole King — The shift toward 1970s piano-based songwriting on 'Sling' was a conscious attempt to mirror the 'Tapestry' era. You can hear the influence in the rolling piano chords and the focus on domestic, quiet lyricism. She stopped trying to be a pop star and started trying to be a craftsperson.
• Norah Jones — She brought 'Come Away with Me' into the studio as a reference for the 'softness' of the sound. It shows up in the jazz-adjacent arrangements and the decision to keep the vocal takes raw and close to the mic. It’s that sophisticated, late-night hi-fi vibe.