Clairo - Diary 001

From making music in her dorm room to becoming one of the most intriguing and exciting indie-pop artists to emerge in 2018, 19-year-old Clairo (Claire Cottrill) self-produced her debut EP, Diary 001. It features the viral single "Pretty Girl".

Claire Cottrill has been sharing her music online since she was 13. Beginning with acoustic covers of Maroon 5 and Frank Ocean, then evolving into thoughtful, probing guitar songs about the complexities of high school relationships, the 19-year-old musician’s creative coming-of-age took place entirely on the internet. But it wasn't until 2017, when she uploaded the video for “Pretty Girl,” a song originally released on a compilation album from the blog Le Sigh, that Cottrill completed her transformation into Clairo: a web-native, lo-fi pop singer with an ear for playful synth tones and an intriguingly flat vocal affect.

Like any young woman whose music suddenly becomes popular, the Massachusetts-born singer attracted legions of naysayers who dismissed her as a one-hit fluke or an industry plant. But “Pretty Girl” and the other songs on Clairo’s EP, Diary 001, exhibit the kind of subtle charms that only arise after years of careful labor. Listen deeply enough, and you’ll realize there’s more to her overnight success than one lucky hit.

Limited edition vinyl produced by Fader Records in 2018.

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