Charm is the third studio album by American singer-songwriter
Clairo, released on July 12, 2024. The follow-up to her second album, Sling (2021), it is her first self-released studio album after her previous two albums were released by
Fader and
Republic respectively. Clairo produced the album alongside
Leon Michels with musical contributions from
Nick Movshon,
Homer Steinweiss,
Marco Benevento, and
Dave Guy, among others.
Background
On July 16, 2021, Clairo released her second studio album Sling to critical acclaim, appearing on numerous "best albums of 2021" lists.[5] Critics praised Sling for Clairo's artistic progression and thematic songwriting that ponders future motherhood, domesticity and the responsibility of becoming a caregiver.[6][7] Clairo embarked on the Sling tour in 2022 in support of the record.[8] During the tour, she suffered from sinus infections and an ear injury, before finishing the tour on October 4, 2022.[9][10] In 2023, aside from collaborating with artists like
Phoenix and
Beabadoobee,[11][12] Clairo also released two charity singles on
Bandcamp, "For Now" with all proceeds directed to
Everytown for Gun Safety and For The Gworls,[13] and "Lavender" to raise funds for
Doctors Without Borders during the
Israel–Hamas war.[14] A live
EP, Live at Electric Lady, was released on May 12, 2023.[15]
In January 2024, Clairo started teasing a new album with a post on
Instagram, captioning it "maybe this year".[16] In March, she shared an Instagram post captioned with emojis depicting the number three, a check mark, and a purple heart.[17] The post was interpreted by music publication The Forty-Five to mean that her third studio album was complete.[17] On May 7, she revealed a release date of May 23 for her new music via
Instagram Stories.[18]
On May 23, Clairo announced that the album, titled Charm and produced by
Leon Michels, was scheduled for release on July 12, while releasing its lead single, "Sexy to Someone".[19][20] A press release accompanying the announcement of Charm described the album as "a collection of warm, '70s-inspired grooves that move lithely between
jazz,
psychedelic folk and
soul".[21]
The first single from Charm to be released was "Sexy to Someone" on May 23, 2024.[25]Uproxx described the track as "flirty" while Rolling Stone said it was "a summer stunner with cozy production and whimsical instrumentation".[26][27] "Nomad", the record second and last single, was released on June 28, 2024.[28]
On May 29, Clairo announced two
residencies for September in support of the album.[29] The Los Angeles residency will take place at the
Fonda Theatre and the New York residency will take place at the
Webster Hall.[30]
Charm received critical acclaim upon release. At
Metacritic, which assigns a
normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an
average score of 81.[32]