PHOTOS BY LEXI YOB, DESIGN BY SOPHIA EARLEY
Claud explores the balance between joy and melancholy through dreamy production, playful melodies and confessional songwriting on their latest record.
Claud’s third studio album, Me and the Music, marks a distinct shift in their discography. Co-produced by Claud themself alongside new collaborator John Congleton (Alvvays, St. Vincent), this record is their most sonically diverse yet: happy, chaotic, whimsical and endlessly catchy.
Its production feels lighthearted and fairy-like with an easygoing charm, balanced with an undercurrent of emotional depth. Across the album, Claud flows between feel-good driving songs, twangy acoustic folk, ’80s-inspired dance tracks made for the club, unrequited love for the United States and the kind of emotionally resonant songwriting they do so well. Pleaser had the chance to sit down with Claud to discuss the album’s inspirations, collaborations and creative evolution. Let’s dive into the tracks.
Once Claud found the prompt behind Me and the Music, the songs began to fall into place: things can be heavy, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have fun. The album’s first single, “She Doesn’t Love Me,” serves as the north star for that idea. Personifying the United States as a lover, Claud serenades an unrequited love song to a country that doesn’t necessarily love them back as a queer person.
Amidst an increasingly harmful political climate, the song pushes back against the easy suggestion to simply leave. For Claud, the people they love are the reason they love it here. As someone born and raised in Nashville, I understand that feeling of wanting to see the people I love here taken care of. That sense of community carries into the song’s music video whose closing scene features Claud’s musician friends Samia, Clairo (their fellow Shelly member), Josh Mehling (also of Shelly), Annie DiRusso and Hank Heaven.
Claud cites The Sundays, the Velvet Underground and Elliott Smith as influences on the sound of Me and the Music. Still, they’re hesitant to draw direct comparisons to the latter.
“I don’t know if I managed to sound comparable to Elliott Smith, he’s so amazing and one of a kind,” they told me. “I Owe You,” one of the album’s singles, immediately brought Cocteau Twins to mind for me. Dreamy and effortlessly captivating, it feels like an instant classic.
PHOTOS BY LEXI YOB
That range reflects Claud’s growing confidence behind the scenes. When I asked about leaning further into their identity as a producer and what excited them most about making the record, they were eager to share about the creative process.
“All of the songs were written within a year and a half.
This is the first album where I can stand behind every single song because my fingerprints are all over every aspect. I’m impressed with myself and my collaborators.
I’m a huge fan of John Congleton’s work so I was excited to work together. The best producers help you bring out yourself, and that’s what John did!”
Claud and Congleton’s production seem to give them room to explore possibilities while keeping the album cohesive.
Listening to Me and the Music, I couldn’t help but feel friendship woven through its songs. When I brought this up with Claud, they were happy to elaborate.
“The last couple albums were made on laptops in bedrooms so getting to be in John’s legit studio was the coolest experience. I got to write some of the songs with my friends Annie DiRusso and Hank Heaven who I’m constantly inspired by. I think Heaven is one of the best songwriters of all time so I was very excited to write with them.”
That collaborative spirit is especially apparent on “Spells and Fortune Tellers,” with folky, twangy quality that stood out to me while listening. There’s a playfulness to its sound as the lyrics dance around pain and uncertainty. The bittersweet folk sound is never weighed down by its own melancholy. Instead, it moves through difficult feelings with a sense of warmth and whimsy.
Additionally, “The Legend” and “The Reach” lean into the feeling of ’80s-inspired sad dance anthems: songs that belong just as much on a crowded dance floor as they do in a late-night spiral.
“There are some watery synths on both of those,” Claud explained. “The style of the keys on ‘The Reach’ came from John showing me how to play the notes and I decided to keep the plucking style for the song.”
“The Legend,” co-written with Dan Nigro (Olivia Rodrigo, Chappell Roan, Caroline Polachek), explores the ache of being in a relationship with someone who doesn’t want to be seen with you. It’s an emotional plea for more. The song is danceable, but there’s a vulnerability beneath its shimmering surface that makes it linger long after it ends.
On “I’m Too Sensitive,” Claud approaches vulnerability with a giggle and finds humor in the very feelings that might otherwise overwhelm them. The song reminded me that the qualities we’re quickest to criticize in ourselves may not be weaknesses at all. What if being sensitive is what allows us to connect so deeply, love so openly and experience the world so fully?
PHOTOS BY LEXI YOB
Throughout Me and the Music, Claud makes space for both joy and sadness recognizing that a song can be playful without being shallow and emotionally heavy without losing its sense of fun.
Ultimately, Me and the Music is a friend who warms up life’s coldest times. It’s the kind of record that reveals more of itself with every listen, rewarding the listener with new meaning, unexpected textures and emotional connections that deepen over time. Claud made an album that embraces the messiness of being human without letting that messiness get in the way of having a good time.
Sometimes things are heavy. Sometimes they hurt. But there’s room to dance through the pain, and find a little magic in the middle of it all.