Coco & Clair Clair - Girl (Single)
Photo credit: Nicole Steriovski
Coco & Clair Clair are back to announce their new album ‘Girl’ due August 30th. Alongside the announcement, the duo shares their new single “Aggy,” which see’s them delivering irresistibly cheeky and playful bars that bleed into a blissful chorus refrain. Coco and Clair share about the new song, “We're singing about leaving our cares behind and having a good night. No worries and no drama, just some good old-fashioned loving with your friends, your crush, your partner, whoever. What happened to having fun??”
Their forthcoming album ‘Girl’ sees the Atlanta duo embracing a broad range of sonic landscapes. Speaking further about the project Coco and Clair note, “In the early stages of our writing process we had a running joke about being pregnant with a new album and how this one felt like a baby girl, whereas our last project, ‘SEXY’, felt more like a baby boy. We were writing about our relationships, referencing and incorporating lyrics we had written years ago – lyrics previously put aside for being too vulnerable or confessional. We were experimenting with a style of production that felt more refined, polished, intentional, and intimate. We embraced the tension between that new approach and the characteristic qualities that propelled us early on: our resourcefulness, boastfulness, and flamboyance – all virtues of femininity and girlhood as much as they are tropes of masculinity. We listened to music that we felt exuded that same tension; Saint Etienne, Brandy, Everything but the Girl, Lana Del Rey, Club 8, Milky, and Madonna were huge inspirations both sonically and visually. We entered this new phase as closer friends and collaborators – more in tune with each other and ourselves, with newfound access to parts of our creative psyches that we hadn't yet brought into Coco & Clair Clair. We worried less but cared more, which felt powerfully feminine.”
The new album came together after touring the country and experiencing the soft glow of new romantic relationships. They leaned into these varied emotional experiences and wrote songs that were newly intimate without sacrificing their sense of charisma and verve. The songs came together quickly, in a matter of weeks. Once they had them ready, they travelled between Amsterdam and Joshua Tree to work on production in collaboration with Raven Artson. They would cook together, lay out in the sun, drive around town, and then start making drinks at 4 or 5 pm and get to work. During this time, Coco and Clair pushed themselves to take more risks - there’s a rock song on the album, a number of old beats Coco had made years ago, and the lyricism is their most vulnerable yet. This process helped them actualize their ideas and there’s a sense of intentionality and confidence to the resulting songs. The production is lusher and more vibrant while remaining eclectic and immediate. Ultimately with Girl, Coco and Clair have mastered sitting comfortably with their vulnerability.
The announcement follows their previous critically acclaimed album ‘SEXY’, which NPR described as "gorgeous" and Pitchfork proclaimed as "leagues above everyone around them." The album featured celebrated singles “Love Me”, "Cherub" and “Pop Star.” Coco & Clair Clair also released ‘SEXY’ (Deluxe Edition), which included "The Hills (feat. DEELA)" remixed by George Daniel of the 1975, "Pop Star" reimagined by Chaeyoung from the KPop sensation TWICE, and an Empress Of remix of "Cherub" as well as remixes from Lewis OfMan, Homeshake, Clip, Niko B, and more.
Growing up in the suburbs of Atlanta, Coco and Clair’s respective skill sets were on display from early ages. Coco was an only child, so she turned toward the internet to find her community and ultimately found an outlet for self-expression, “I didn't have anyone to vibe with at home, so I would just vibe online a lot, and I got into music through MySpace. I would make music videos for friends, and then I started making beats.” Clair adds, “I always wanted to be a singer but I don't think I ever thought I would actually be one.” Her natural love for music was aided by her father. “I learned a lot about music through my dad driving me to school,” she says. “He would always play me music in the car that I had never heard.” Toward the end of high school Coco and Clair met through mutual friends on Twitter and would soon influence and teach each other. Their foundational friendship and intrinsic trust are conduits for making music that is singularly theirs but also universally relatable.