Sling
| Clairo
Sling
Critic Reviews
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Medium
Sling is in a lot of ways an artistic risk and step forward that works out nicely for Clairo. She seems to be finding her sound and growing into it as an artist perfectly. Front to back, Sling is a soft but phenomenal album that sees Clairo begin to realize her full potential as an artist.
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Pitchfork
On her second album, reluctant Gen Z ambassador Clairo turns back the clock, embracing classic touchstones of 1970s folk.
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mxdwn Music
Clairo’s second album, Sling, is a soothing collection of songs that eloquently explores various sophisticated topics.
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NME
Both musically and lyrically, this is Clairo doing what she does best – crafting gorgeous jewels that help you make sense of your own world, one step at a time. ‘Sling’ might take inspiration from classic songwriters of yesteryear but, decades from now, it will be Cottrill whom our future artists hold up with similar reverence.
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Stereogum
Though it’s by far the most vivid music of her career, broadening her musical horizons in unforeseen ways, Sling also circles directly back to Clairo’s origin story: It’s pretty, and yet it’s so much more than that.
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Variety
“Sling” finds this young artist taking an unexpected but welcome turn into a new style, one that leaves the possibilities of her next chapter wide open.
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DIY Magazine
Stoic and serene, ‘Sling’ is a brave new chapter that introduces a Clairo transformed.
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Paste Magazine
So maybe “Blouse” was a bit of a curveball. And while setting Sling next to Immunity proves Cottrill has more than one pitch in her arsenal, it turns out her curveball is the one that’s most dazzling. Here’s hoping she makes an album full of them someday.
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The Young Folks
Sling—while ultimately releasing mid-summer—presents a more melancholic side of Clairo that will undoubtedly gain momentum as we approach the autumn months.
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The Guardian
a cinematic delight.
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Sputnik Music
This album is a byproduct of all that soul-searching, and an essential step towards merging Clairo the artist with Claire the person. Thanks to Sling, now they're closer than ever.
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Loud and Quiet
Sling sees Clairo refine her sound even more – Antonoff isn’t known for his rough edges after all. It’s hard not to feel that something is lost in this cleanup, some of the naivety and playfulness which made those earlier tracks so endearing. Which makes sense, in a way – this is an album about settling down, learning to take care of yourself, and letting go of that which doesn’t serve.
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Under the Radar Magazine
Throughout the record, Cottrill yearns for a home, a place of final peace and belonging. As Sling unfurls each new intimate detail, the album freely offers that same welcoming refuge to any who desire it, inviting each listener into the world of Clairo’s quiet reprieve.
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The Quietus
The beauty of Sling is immediately apparent, but it is so much more than ‘pretty’, Clairo is letting us in to her safe space and reminding us to nurture one another. She is creating songs that throw an arm (or paw) around you and share the weight of your experiences.
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Clash Magazine
Moving on from the playful, DIY era of ‘Immunity’, Clairo is clearer now on who she is and who she wants to be. On ‘Sling’ there is the sense that Clairo is in flight, except this time she isn’t running away from her little ghosts. On this record she runs towards them, even dances with them a little.
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Peanut Butter Pope
‘Sling’ is that bit more introspective than predecessor ‘Immunity’, and will therefore command more of a reaction. I still have trouble regularly grooving with a product so embroiled in softness, but Clairo’s second album is texturally luxurious and lyrically gut-punching, deserving any praise I may not be giving it.
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Slant Magazine
Sling is less commercial than Clairo’s debut, but it’s also more thematically and musically myopic.
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Nylon
ON 'SLING,' CLAIRO IS BRAVER, WISER, AND A TRUE ALBUM ARTIST.
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AV Club
Clairo’s Sling paves a brilliantly inspired and elegantly orchestrated road to comfort.
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Daily Bruin
‘Sling’ is mature, sentimental progression of Clairo’s sound.
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B-Sides
Overall, ‘Sling’ gives us Clairo at her most vulnerable, but is somehow the most self-assured we’ve ever seen her. With each project, we’ve seen Clairo go from the audacious young girl making music in her bedroom, to young adult trying to figure out how she’s perceived by others, to the young woman who is growing tired of the expectations and judgements of others, searching for who she wants to be beyond the stardom. It’s that reflection, care, and sonic clarity that makes ‘Sling’ Clairo’s most personal and profound work yet.
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Vinyl Chapters
Clairo has only just made a name for herself a few years ago, but now with this second studio album being released into the world, I wouldn’t be surprised if she becomes one of the next big things.
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Crack Magazine
You could call it a coming-of-age album, but even that feels reductive. Instead, it’s a coming-to-terms album, a focused portrait of a young woman who is finally choosing to treat herself with the generosity that she reserves for those she cares for.
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Beats Per Minute
Sling may not offer many universal rallying cries or rousing choruses from artists that break through in similar fashion as Clairo. But it does compel you to lean in and listen a bit more closely to what Claire Cottrill has orbiting around her inquisitive mind. Sling is an intimate, tender heart-to-heart where muted confessions finally have their day.
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Exepose
With lots of similar artists like Phoebe Bridgers or Taylor Swift going in this folky direction, Clairo could run the risk of being forgotten but when final track ‘Management‘ comes on with its playful strings and emotional build-ups, she completely holds her own among these great albums. Don’t expect anything groundbreaking but do expect a lovely cosy album which is one of the best this year so far.
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Red Roll
Cozily introspective, Sling looks back on Cottrill’s rapid rise to fame—unpacking regrets, unpleasant truths, and settling into life in an industry where, sometimes, you don’t even feel real.
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Irish Examiner
Sling is a walk on the mild side that will appeal to devotees of sad songs performed honestly and without embellishment.
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Stereoboard
Her vocals are often pitched so quietly that you feel like an intruder, encroaching upon the mechanisms of somebody's private thought process. Clairo is determined to make it through the lows, one little change at a time, and we are with her every step of the way. ‘Sling’ is a healing record from a poetic mind.
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Secret Meeting
But the outcome of Sling feels like a giant leap from Immunity – one that even the best of songwriters would only be expected to make over a four or five album journey. It’s by no means immediate, but it already has the early feel of a future classic.
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Evening Standard
a light touch and a beautiful sound all her own.
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All Music
While melodies are largely stagnant on Sling, and lyrics swing between grievance and self-realization (occasional stand-out turns of phrase include the opening lyrics, "I'm stepping inside a universe designed against my own beauties"), the album's ruminative atmospheres are its defining -- and likely haunting -- strength.
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WERS 88.9
I can reach for this album when I want to know myself in this unique, intimate way that only music can allow.
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Rolling Stone
Claire Cottrill expands her sound with grace and subtlety on second album.
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Ben's Beat
While Immunity felt like a promising artist just beginning to find her footing, Sling deftly sidesteps the sophomore jinx and sees Clairo, still quite young, step into her own as a new and undeniably unique voice in the folk and singer-songwriter realm. She’s discovered her niche, and I can’t wait to see what other stories she’ll be able to tell with it.
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Gigwise
Sling shows a more mature Clairo, displaying clear artistic growth and suggesting that the 22-year-old is becoming a real force to be reckoned with. It doesn’t feel as if she’s on new ground as such, rather that she’s built on the foundations of Fleetwood Mac, Taylor Swift and HAIM, amongst others. It’s the sort of record to live out your cottagecore dreams to, sat in front of a roaring fire with a cup of coffee and a dog by your feet: on Sling, Clairo has left the bedroom and has ventured downstairs.
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Our Culture Magazine
With Sling, she draws from her forebears to create one that fits her own consciousness and curiosity, one we can all find comfort in.
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