If you follow music closely in the past few years, then you have heard a track or two from upstate New York recording artist Clairo.
Her new single, “Amoeba,” is already making the rounds across the webs and socials. The song is plated with soft, fragile vocals, boosted by reverb and other effects, and a fun, funky groove. The key here is the vocal work, which strays a bit from her previous singles because her voice is more dense and melancholic.
The New York Times wrote: ““Amoeba,” a highlight anchored by funky, insistent keyboards and a steady beat — a song that manages to brood and saunter at the same time. ”
Clairo, or Claire Elizabeth Cottrill, rose to indie stardom back in 2017 with her viral DIY YouTube music video for her lo-fi single “Pretty Girl”. Cottrill is one of many artists in the past two decades who started out in a bedroom and propelled to fame without a label, producer, agent or band.
It is a thrill every time a talented young person in somewhere USA, or anywhere in the world, writes, records and distributes a terrific original song that catches on/takes off in the right places and goes viral, establishing that artist almost instantly.
Cottrill signed with Fader quickly, and dropped her debut EP, Diary 001, in 2018, followed by the widely-acclaimed debut album, Immunity, in 2019. That album contained the hit songs, “Bags” and “Sofia”, the latter of which is her first single to hit the Billboard Hot 100.