Clairo fans, get ready to update your summer playlists. Clairo is set to drop her highly anticipated new album, Charm, very soon.
The album comes just three years after her sophomore album, Sling, which received widespread acclaim from critics and praise from fans for Clairo’s relatable lyrics about sexualization, growing older, and mental health issues like anxiety and depression. Charm is expected to follow in Sling‘s footsteps with more themes that all of us can relate to, featuring 11 songs that seem to explore romantic themes.
Keeping music-starved fans satisfied until the July 12 release of Charm, Clairo dropped an analog-produced banger, “Sexy to Someone” on May 23 and I can see it playing in the backdrop of a summer romance. The track, produced by Clairo and Leon Michels, is a raw confessional where Clairo expresses her longing to be seen and noticed by someone special. Not convinced? Let’s break down the heartfelt lyrics of “Sexy to Me.”
In the first verse, Clairo sings, “Sexy to someone is all I really want / Sometimes sexy to someone is all I really want / Nothin’ more, nothin’ less of thought, walkin’ through the park / Sexy to someone, I think about it all.” She dreams of having someone find her attractive, even if it costs her a fortune. We’ve all been there before.
In the second part of the first verse, Clairo contemplates her version of “main character syndrome” of wanting to feel seen like a character in a rom-com. However, she quickly realizes that those moments of holding eye contact with a cute stranger across the room just aren’t in the cards for her. Maybe it’s time to choose another deck?
In the chorus, Clairo sings,”Sexy to somebody, it would help me out / Oh, I need a reason to get out of the house / And it’s just a little thing I can’t live without.” I can’t help but feel for her. She desperately wants a reason to escape from the monotone routine of her life, unaware that she doesn’t need a love interest to do so. Yet, the longing and waiting for external validation is extremely addicting, and it’s hard not to blame her for feeling this way.
Clairo sticks to daydreaming in Verse 2 by singing, “Sexy is something, I see in everything / Honey stickin’ to your hands, sugar on the rim /Nothing more, nothing less of thought / Take it all to heart / I want after glowing and when I call a car / Send me eyes with the knowing that I could pull it off / Ask if I’m doing TV, no, I didn’t get the job.”
Her sensitive nature reveals that she sees beauty in the smallest details and longs to have the confidence that comes from being seen and understood. Clairo is vulnerable about not getting the TV job, both metaphorically and literally, hinting at her struggles with self-worth and the pressure of external validation.
Claire’s relatability shines in the bridge where she repeatedly sings, “I want to be sexy to someone (Is it too much to ask?) / I want to be sexy to someone (Then what’s holding you back?) / I want to be sexy to someone (It’s not too much to ask).”
After listening to “Sexy to Someone,” it’s clear Clairo’s confident about where she stands.