On this week’s episode of the Talkhouse Podcast, we’ve got a pair of fantastic songwriters and friends who travel in the same musical circles, and who’ve both released disarmingly charming records recently: Clairo and Hannah Cohen.
Clairo has been making music since she was a teen, and her songs and sounds have a remarkable depth and breadth of influence, from ‘70s soft-rock to more worldly sounds. Her early viral success pointed to a pop-star trajectory, but Clairo always seems to choose a more interesting sonic path over the more obvious one. Her third album, Charm, came out last year, and it leans into a bit of slinky groove more than she had in the past. Check out the song "Juna" right here.
The other half of today’s conversation is Hannah Cohen, who tapped a bunch of cool guests—including Clairo—to help out on her new album. Earthstar Mountain is Cohen’s first in more than five years, and you can hear the care she put into it: It’s an understated but deeply considered ode to her surroundings, the Catskills—and it sounds like that area feels. She made the record with her partner Sam Evian—a Talkhouse alum himself—at their upstate New York studio, Flying Cloud. It doesn’t sound rushed, which is a topic you’ll hear in this chat. In addition to Clairo, it features a guest appearance from Sufjan Stevens. Check out the song “Rag” right here.
These two friends get right into a delightful chat that covers Cohen’s record, including the mushroom that inspired its title. They also chat about how working on music with your romantic partner can be its own form of therapy, and they get deep into soundtracks toward the end, tossing around the idea of making one, even without a movie to hang it on. Enjoy.
Chapters:
0:00 – Intro
2:02 – Start of the chat
2:30 – On mushrooms and 'Earthstar Mountain'
8:55 – Cohen on making music with her romantic partner, Sam Evian
12:30 – "Artists are so in tune with things on a whole different level"
19:20 – On the song "Rag"
24:45 – "Take what you need from [my] songs; find your own meaning"
30:05 – On soundtracks
Thanks for listening to the Talkhouse Podcast, and thanks to Hannah Cohen and Clairo for chatting. If you liked what you heard, check out all the great stuff at Talkhouse.com, and be sure to follow and rate us wherever you listen to podcasts. This episode was produced by Myron Kaplan, and the Talkhouse theme is composed and performed by The Range. See you next time!
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