If you’ve been wondering where slay mama Clairy Browne (of Clairy Browne and The Bangin’ Rackettes) has been since 2014’s Love Cliques, you’ll be stoked to receive her first solo-album, Pool. Taking things to a poppier place than she did with the Bangin’ Rackettes, the Melbourne native flits between personas and aesthetics effortlessly on Pool, paying homage to the bad bitches of pop, jazz and R&B who inspire her sound.
Lead single and album opener Vanity Fair is a self-aware anthem for babes, an ode to feminine curves and cocky attitudes. It’s a killer marriage of Browne’s established jazzy sound and her new pop direction, making you want to twerk in the jazz club. Browne isn’t content to solely occupy pop-land: she nails a sensual disco vibe in Pool, with an effortless vocal arrangement leading its undeniably catchy chorus.
The attitude soaked F.U.B and Killem With It are perfect for the R&B room, and emotional club banger With You is an album standout, combining simple synths and vocals to guarantee its lines will be shouted to the rooftops in the months to come. There’s a sing-along, anthemic quality to the entire album, and it becomes especially apparent in Love Song to the World, a joyous showcase of Browne’s moreish voice.
Not all the best moments on Pool are contained within a chorus melody, mind you. There’s a magnetic vibe to Browne’s brash confidence, which seeps into every line of the album. You can see it in the album’s ambitious spread of genres, and how she stretches across these without compromising the integrity of her voice or aspirational bad bitch persona.
In Pool, Browne’s created an undeniably feminist album with a powerful message of self-celebration. It’s a cracker of a time, comprising beautiful songwriting and a number of tender moments. Ultimately, Browne proves she can take her powerful voice anywhere and make something addictive out of it.
By Ali Schnabel
