Twenty-two-year-old internet sensation Clairo has grown from recording in her dorm room in 2017 to the beautiful Allaire studios in the Catskill Mountains, where David Bowie and Norah Jones have also worked out their artistic form. On her much anticipated second album, Sling, she worked with Lorde for backing vocals and five-time Grammy-winning producer Jack Antonoff. Sling maneuvers away from the electro-pop of her 2019 debut, Immunity, and toward something better described as Gen Z folk music, or “Z-Folk,” as no one likes to call it.

Oohs and soft piano kick off the record with “Bambi.” Slide guitar adds a unique texture to the song, making surprise appearances at various times throughout the album. Clairo sings soft, sweet lyrics about love and the tears of unrequited love over the occasional sexy saxophone melody. “I don’t like to cry before I know why, but honestly I might,” she sings.

The next track, “Amoeba,” has the sophisticated sound of Aimee Mann, with Clairo singing light and upbeat about cold, cold love. She spews out lyrical daggers like, “You showed up to the party just to leave,” and “You’re not as good as your mama assumed,” as a keyboard twinkles.

“Partridge” is a very mellow number, bringing listeners back down to a ’70s-style bedrock, providing an ample amount of drums, synth, more oohs and layered vocals. “Sorry I have to hold you longer than you expected/ It’s only temporary,” Clairo sings, assuring listeners that this is an album of love songs. Generally speaking, her lyrics lack specificity or an inkling of real pain, so the emotions tend to come off just as nondescript.

“Zinnias” showcases Clairo’s guitar playing skills, with some light acoustic fingerpicking, kicking it up with electric solos peppered throughout. “Blouse” takes a deep dive into Elliot Smith territory. The track sounds like it’s straight out of a Wes Anderson movie, with violins and musings like, “Why do I tell you how I feel, when you’re just looking down a blouse/ It’s something I would say out loud/ If touch could make them hear, then touch me now.”

“Wade,” at the album’s midpoint, offers some of the most provocative imagery. “Most of the time I can feel them on me, the eyes from the stranger’s window/ It’s dark and it’s lonely but it’s nothin’ to me/ At least someone’s home,” Clairo sings of being alone as the music creates a feeling of sitting alone in a dusky room as spoons clink against empty glasses.

“Harbor” finally gives some concrete examples of why Clairo’s feelings are bruised: “Maybe you keep me around, for the constant affirmations;” “Keeping me close, while you hold me out and say, I don’t love you that way.” Now we’re getting somewhere. That’s some relatable, scorned love we can get behind.

“Just For Today” is sweet, melodic, low-key and leads well into “Joanie,” an instrumental song (except for all the oohs, of course.) “Joanie” is the theme song for a newly divorced woman, walking down a busy downtown street on the first day of her new job. Sonically, it’s one of the most interesting tracks on the album.

“Reaper” puts us in the mood for a Pacific Northwest road trip. The rain is falling down, and the windows are steamy; the doughnuts cost $6 each, but they’re fantastic. “To spare your pain, I can feel my shame… I can’t fuck it up if it’s not there at all,” Clairo sings.

The album closes with two thematic tracks. On “Little Changes,” Clairo is added to the long list of female musicians who played the fool for their muse. “He loved me good enough to calm me down but tried to trick me into little changes,” she sings. Without changing for someone else, she keeps her self-respect intact.

This comes in handy on the final song, “Management,” an autobiographical piece about her newly found success and the intimidating road in front of her. In a bright spot of self-awareness, she vouches for her authenticity: “Just when I start to think it’s ended, another demand commences/ Doing it for my future self, the one who needs more attention.” The album closes on a positive note from a young musician who has a lot of work in front of her and an impressive amount of success already behind her.

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