Clairo and Rostam Break Down “Alewife” on “Song Exploder”: Listen
Clairo is the latest guest on “Song Exploder,” the podcast where artists break down their music. Here, Clairo discusses “Alewife,” the opener of her debut record Immunity, alongside her co-producer Rostam and best friend Alexa, to whom the song is dedicated. Listen to the episode below.
The song is about a “a very difficult time” in Clairo’s life where she was “going through a lot of depression and anxiety” that hit a low point one night in eighth grade, she said. “When I was writing the guitar I just decided that it was time for me to talk about this experience, less about how sad it was and more about how grateful I am for Alexa,” she explained. When Alexa first heard a demo of the track Clairo recorded on her phone, “It took me back to the night that that song was about, which we don’t really talk about a lot but we know that it was there.”
“I had been listening to a lot of Elliott Smith, and it was important to me to double track the vocals. I think that was one of my favorite things about Elliott Smith’s music,” Cottrill explained. “All the guitar on this song, ‘Alewife,’ is played by Claire,” said Rostam. “The one thing I asked her to do when we got to my studio was to replay her electric guitar parts on acoustic guitar because to me, that pushed it more into the world of Elliott Smith just because the songs that I connect the most strongly with are his acoustic guitar songs.”
Read Pitchfork’s feature interview “Clairo Has Something to Prove.”
Originally Appeared on Pitchfork
