Get to Know Clairo, the Viral Teen YouTube Singer of "Pretty Girl", Before She Blows Up, Big Time

Don’t be last to the Clairo party.

This week, British producer Danny L. Harle released his latest song, "Blue Angel", following collabos with Caroline Polachek (from Chairlift), Carly Rae Jepsen, Charli XCX and Australia’s own Tkay Maidza.

But "Blue Angel" features vocals from a lesser known name in music circles (but pretty widely recognised by fans of confessional YouTube videos and lo-fi bedroom pop): Clairo.

If you’re not familiar with 19-year-old Clairo—real name Claire Cottrill—it’s time to get familiar, especially before she drops her highly anticipated EP later this year. We say this in stone-faced seriousness: All the cool kids are listening to her.

Clairo joined YouTube in 2014, uploading her first batch of "originals" to Soundcloud that same year, at the grand old age of 14.

Initially, she called YouTube a "secret safe space" to post her music. It wasn’t until August of 2017 that she got her first taste of virality, with the endearingly unglamorous video for the dreamy "Pretty Girl" (which comes with the sarcastic, barbed lyric, "I could be a pretty girl / shut up when you want me to".)

It took her 30 minutes to film.

This year alone, off the back of "Pretty Girl", she’s been profiled in Pitchfork and opened for Tyler, the Creator in concert. She’s also working on a six-song EP, partly produced by, you guessed it, Danny Harle. And she’s doing it all while studying at Syracuse University in New York State.

So, there you have it! Consider yourself in the know.

Since her music channels are comprised of four years’ worth of content, there’s almost too much to devour if you want to get acquainted with Clairo. But if you’re looking for recommendations, it’s hard to go past the twinkly grind—and tasty title—of "Flamin’ Hot Cheetos".