Album
Clairo
Immunity
August 2 2019
7.5/10
Words: Ali Mack
After obtaining viral online status last year with her bedroom hit 'Pretty Girl', Massachusetts singer-songwriter Claire Cottrill dives into producing a pop collection of sparkling electro-pop for her debut full-length work.
Produced by (ex-Vampire Weekend) Rostam Batmanglij, 'Immunity' brings in breezy uptempo tracks, deep ballads, reverb’d keyboards and grungy guitars, all helmed by Cottrill’s dreamily hushed delivery.
Album opener 'Alewife', named after a train station near her home town outside Boston, details her suicide attempt and the intervention of a friend, providing a somewhat dark entrance, with light guitar and synth shades to protect the painful lyrics and thankfulness: “But you know you saved me / From doing something to myself that night.” Brooding builder 'White Flag' allows a platform for her reflective teen angst: "I was 15 when I first felt loneliness / cut my hair / only listened to ‘Loveless'” she sings, referencing the My Bloody Valentine album.
Elsewhere, early single 'Bags' brings in a rolling rhythm propelled by chugging guitar and drums from Danielle Haim. 'Sofia' is powered by a plugging synth beneath snapping guitar distortion as it tells of falling for a girlfriend, while 'Softly' is a pop-R&B ballad that is nestled around Clairo’s intimately enticing voice. A children's choir comes in on closer 'I Wouldn’t Ask You', over subtle piano which moves through into a psych-cum-trip hop extravaganza, showing how easily she can move around genres, all the while offering a confessional collective of personal and emotional experience.
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