More than a dozen years into his music career, he continues to keep instruments, microphones, and any recording equipment on hand in his home, ready to produce at a moment’s notice: “It’s kind of my philosophy to put everything in one room and make it as easy as possible to record as soon as you have an idea.”. The former member of Vampire Weekend has always identified as a record producer—but it was only this year, working with everyone from Haim to, yes, Vampire Weekend, that he stepped into that role so fully. About Bags. Whether we were in the midst of the hell weeks when you’re finishing a record, you’re not sleeping until there’s a final master. The bittersweet bridge to “Impossible” seems to pull its melodic style from the recent work of Kacey Musgraves, specifically her 2018 song “Happy & Sad.”. And if we could do it right, if we could kind of pull the rug out from under you and slow down the song without anyone noticing, then we would accomplish something kind of unique. So Immunity is half songs that she and I started together and it’s half songs that she started on her own and brought to me and we figured out the production. Out are her Casio drum beats and muffled vocals, in are refined harmonies and lush soundscapes. Immunity brings in new personnel—produced by Rostam Batmanglij, mixed by Dave Fridmann, assisted on drums by Danielle Haim —for a new direction. The cuts on “Immunity” do not pop out so much as they glide from one to the next. Certainly what was different for me was to no longer be responsible for producing the entirety of a Vampire Weekend album, which I really did look at as a full-time job, you know? Just as Clairo lets the album lull in the outro to “Softly,” she pulls listeners back in with a powerful guitar intro to “Sofia.” But at its worst, this approach renders some of the album’s tracks forgettable. Box 779 / Notre Dame, IN 46556 Email: [email protected], To some, Clairo is the lip-syncing teen in that viral “Pretty Girl”, That voice cuts through on her debut EP, “, Previously postponed commencement for class of 2020 rescheduled to summer of 2022, Experts say University protocols lessen potential for COVID-19 outbreak, Senate meets to discuss student petition, Campus Compact, “Scene writers made their lists; they checked th, This Giving Tuesday, we are asking that you consid, Happy Thanksgiving! It was kind of a new way for me, where there was this framework that she had created and it was my role to build off of the foundation that was there.\, And I loved working on the record in that way. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. And then eventually we got to a point where it felt like there was a whole album that would make sense for us to work on together. Rostam Batmanglij ( Persian: رستم باتمانقلیچ , IPA: [rosˈtæm bɒːtmɒːŋɢeˈliːdʒ]; … "Sofia" is a song by American singer Clairo. And I was just like, “Let’s record it, and we can always make it lower if we need to.” But that was kind of the beginning of “Fallingwater.”. Rostam Batmanglij has always identified himself as a record producer. She writes her lyrics by hand and she sort of writes notes to herself on her phone. The song features drums from Danielle Haim, and was produced by Rostam Batmanglij and Clairo, who also wrote the song. Softly. He was also part of the production team for Haim’s forthcoming third album, which features the single “Summer Girl.” Batmanglij looked back at that song and his other producing work this year, providing some behind-the-scenes commentary on his collaborations as well as the relationships he’s managed to cultivate and maintain through a shared love of music. And I told her, “I really love this. Sofia. The year 2019 has been different. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement (updated as of 1/1/21) and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement (updated as of 1/1/21) and Your California Privacy Rights. From The Observer family, Notre Dame Day is here! Immunity is the debut studio album by American singer-songwriter Clairo, released on August 2, 2019 through Fader Label. I think I ran into her at a festival in Portugal when she was playing in Julian Casablancas’s band. For her she was making, I think, another six-song E.P. And I think that Haim as musicians and as songwriters are kind of an antidote. I think it’s an important part of songwriting that oftentimes in this era—I think musicality sometimes seems so divorced from songwriting. So we took this trip to Martha’s Vineyard in the off-season and we stayed at our friend’s place in Chilmark. — An exclusive look at Find Me, André Aciman’s follow-up to Call Me by Your Name— What really happened when NBC killed its Harvey Weinstein story— Kate Middleton and Prince William paid homage to Princess Diana on their royal tour— Saturday Night Live’s most hilarious Democratic candidate impression— Angelina Jolie reinvents herself on the red carpet— From the Archive: Was this relationship the reason Diana fell in love with Pakistan? Sinking. “It’s my language.” His love of production work is the reason. Download and Print Sofia sheet music for voice, piano or guitar by Clairo. Fader Label released it as the third single from her debut studio album Immunity on July 26, 2019. And so she was on my radar and I really liked what she was doing. This is one of many ways in which Clairo’s new album — and particularly “Impossible” — leans on outside inspiration. Rostam, Category: Artist, Albums: Half-Light, I Had a Dream That You Were Mine, Singles: Under Control, Unfold You, Half-Light (Acoustic), In a River, Half-Light Remixes: EP1, Top Tracks: A 1000 Times, In a River, In a Black Out, Half-Light (feat. You can buy or stream “Alewife” here. We … "Sofia" became a sleeper hit after going viral on the video-sharing platform TikTok, charting on the … The song was written by Clairo and Rostam Batmanglij, who also produced the song, and features drums from Danielle Haim. Claire first met Rostam Batmanglij, a former member of Vampire Weekend and one of indie's most innovative producers (Lykke Li, Frank Ocean, Maggie Rogers, Charli XCX), because he mentioned "Flaming Hot Cheetos" in a Rolling Stone blurb. I think as a producer, you’re always sort of questioning if what you’re contributing is something that an artist loves and elevates a song. Edit. AZLyrics. And it was still a little bit cold. Ezra had an idea to have three duets on the album even before the album was in the trenches of recording. 3,610 Likes, 39 Comments - Rostam Batmanglij (@matsor) on Instagram: “BK Steel we’re coming at ya @clairo ()” Impossible. Bags. Her song “North,” which blends electronic music and guitar rock, gets lost between “Closer to You” and “Bags,” which each focus on either the former or the latter quality, respectively. Consider donating to The O, After a win against Louisville on Saturday, The Ba, ICYMI: On October 17 over 200 people gathered in H, Batmanglij and Leithauser: a nod to the past. Immunity, co-produced with former Vampire Weekend member Rostam Batmanglij, arrived in August. I think everybody’s creative relationships are unique. CLAIRO " White Flag " (Rostam Batmanglij / Claire Cottrill) Piecing it all back together again Didn't get along, been four years since We had it all, and you were my friend Those days got away, hope you find solace in this I was 15 when I first … Since then, Clairo has widened her sound beyond the realm of bedroom pop, collaborating with rapper Rejjie Snow and PC Music’s Danny L. Harle on her EP diary 001. The heavily distorted guitar riffs and crunchy drum line was supplied by Danielle Haim, while the song itself was produced by ex-Vampire Weekend keyboardist Rostam Batmanglij. Fader Label released it as the first single from her debut studio album Immunity on May 24, 2019. And I think it was hard for him to understand what it was about because it was about him. But we just stayed in touch on and off and eventually she was in L.A., and we ended up having dinner and that night we made “Feel Something.”, We kind of blocked off a week to write together in November. G Flip has collaborated with mxmtoon on the song “Queen”. I think that’s kind of the perfect mix, where you do something that you’re not sure about, you feel like you’re taking a risk, and then you turn around and look at the artists that you’re collaborating with and you can read the expression on their face if they like it or they hate it. It’s a lot slower than the rest of the song. Take Clairo’s debut album, Immunity, on which Batmanglij said he is a producer on every song…and that’s it. The album was co-produced by Clairo and Rostam Batmanglij, formerly of Vampire Weekend. Closer To You. It feels like it’s violating some of the rules of pop, which is what we wanted. If you’re in Los Angeles, we should get together and maybe we could write something.” We started working on “Fallingwater” the first day that we ever got in the studio. It can be hard to know what early decisions you make will lead to when you’re 22. It was March 12 when Rostam Batmanglij returned to Los Angeles from a trip to New York, ... III’], the Clairo record, and this new Rostam record … For a long time Batmanglij was a producer and. There are songs out there in the world which, in some ways, seem so unmusical. album: "Immunity" (2019) Alewife. So then on Instagram, like, I saw that she had actually posted something about one of my songs on her story, and then we started communicating. It is one of Clairo’s most loved songs from the “Immunity” album. With all albums it takes time for them to get under your skin. And then that week all these songs came out of us working together, and she started to feel like she wanted to make an album. In those respects, Clairo’s latest record “Immunity,” her first full-length album, is quite the opposite. Writer(s): Rostam Batmanglij, Claire Cottrill, Nick Breton. On his respective albums with Ra Ra Riot’s Wes Miles as Discovery and the Walkmen’s Hamilton Leithauser, he was a producer and a cowriter and collaborator. And when Ariel and Danielle got together to work on the song, I think he was kind of trying to understand what it was about. “My name was somehow attached to the project in every one of those six albums,” said Batmanglij. North. Because if “Immunity” is any indication, Clairo is meant to be a star. Writer(s): Claire Cottrill, Rostam Batmanglij. Like what you see? I was surprised in a way because that was more of a recent album, and I didn’t expect that a recent album would affect anyone. We wanted to make a song that broke some rules. To some, Clairo is the lip-syncing teen in that viral “Pretty Girl” video, a serendipitous beneficiary of the mysterious YouTube algorithm. But of course, it turns out, it’s an amazing song. Kelly Zutrau), Unfold You, Biography: Rostam Batmanglij, known mononymously as Rostam, is a Grammy Award-winning … Having been kept busy working with the likes of Haim and Clairo on their most recent albums, Rostam Batmanglij returns today with a new solo single, 'Unfold You', which arrives accompanied by a video featuring Hari Nef. She had the foundation of the song. Aside from being credited on a few tracks alongside Charli XCX and Carly Rae Jepsen, he was a producer and multi-instrumentalist with Vampire Weekend from 2006 to 2016, working on the group’s first three albums. It never changed. I think it’s rare that somebody sort of documents their ideas so much, but Maggie definitely does that. I think what was interesting about that song was that [producer] Ariel [Rechtshaid] really didn’t understand it. With all this sheen and extrospection, “Immunity” lacks the direct emotional appeal of Clairo’s intimate, uninhibited “diary 001.” But for what the new record lacks in lo-fi charm, it pays dividends in dynamic, immersive pop pleasure. And I think she was singing higher than she ever sang, maybe, and she wasn’t totally comfortable. So Maggie had it all mapped out at that tempo, and instead of trying to speed it up to the rest of the song, I kind of went with it and started slowing everything down, but keeping some of the same drum sounds and keeping a sustained drone that kind of ties the two together. And I was really surprised when she liked it. The connection is self-evident: Rostam Batmanglij, once a member of Vampire Weekend, joins “Immunity” as a co-producer. Rostam talks making his new song “Unfold You,” adding saxophone to his music, and watching Clairo’s song “Sofia” take on a new life on TikTok. And in the dream she sort of describes everything that’s happening at the end of “Fallingwater.” And when she played it back for me, when she started humming the line that kind of marks the beginning of the coda, in my head I was like, This is awesome. Impossible. C. Clairo Lyrics. On the track “4EVER,” Cottrill’s voice bounces along the lively beats of an electronic keyboard. Get the latest chatter, from Kensington Palace and beyond, straight to your inbox. Sometimes we would spend three or four hours talking about politics instead of working on music. Take Clairo’s debut album, Immunity, on which Batmanglij said he is a producer on every song…and that’s it. That was the first time I met Maggie, but I was aware of her because of “Alaska.” I remember being at a party and someone said, “Have you heard this song? It’s also been the year, however, that Batmanglij has further embraced his singular identity as a producer and subsumed himself in other people’s work. About the song, Rostam says: "I was thinking of three generations while I was writing this song. Composer Lyricist: Claire Cottrill Composer Lyricist: Rostam Batmanglij Producer: Rostam Batmanglij Studio Personnel: Rostam Batmanglij White Flag. And then Ezra and I got back in the studio together—it’s crazy to say—maybe three or four years later, and he was like, “Remember that idea? Claire Cottrill is a child of the internet. “It really felt right with this project,” Batmanglij said. Sign up for our daily newsletter and never miss a story. Clairo's five or so years as a rising, teenaged Bandcamp self-releaser turned social media star included viral songs such as "Pretty Girl" and "Flaming Hot Cheetos" as well as collaborations with fellow bedroom pop phenoms Cuco and Jakob Ogawa.On her full-length major-label debut, Immunity, while she maintains a feel largely defined by soft vocals and a woozy atmosphere, … most hilarious Democratic candidate impression. I’ve been working on this other song that I just wrote on the piano and I think if we combine those two ideas, it would make a cool new song.” So that was kind of the Frankenstein of putting that song together. Like many other artists her age,... To uncover the truth and report it accurately. So we were at the stage with writing the songs for Modern Vampires where we felt like we had so many great songs, but we just wanted a few more. Favorite Tracks: “Bags,” “Impossible,” “Alewife”, If you like: The Marías, Cuco, Kacey Musgraves. Help support student-run publications. And at the same time I felt like I wanted the opportunity to open up and very much not write the future in stone, to live with this ability to come together in the unit of a song or album going forward and not feel the future’s written. In this episode, Clairo breaks down her song “Alewife.” I spoke to Claire and her co-producer Rostam Batmanglij about how the song was made. [With Haim] there’s a musicality there that speaks to me and it’s something that I identify with. At its best, this stylistic approach solidifies an emotional arc that befits a full-length project. And I’d been working with him—we had just put out a record we made together, [I Had a Dream That You Were Mine]. Bags. It doesn’t become a vacation spot until about June. If you listen with headphones and take one ear off during the chorus, you’ll hear most of one, and if you take the other ear off, you’ll hear most of the other.\. Learn about us. I think it was a necessary step to make because I was proud of the three records that we made together. And one of her notes was about this dream she had. So we spent about two days just trying to make songs as quickly as possible. That voice cuts through on her debut EP, “diary 001,” a grab-bag of catchy hooks and pithy verses. You have music as a shared interest. This is one of many ways in which Clairo’s new album — and particularly “Impossible” — leans on outside inspiration. I liked how she delivered every line in this sort of carefree way. AZLyrics. She started singing over the chords I played, and the two things really fit together in this new way. Rostam Batmanglij has stayed busy in recent years producing some of the best, most influential albums at the intersection of pop and indie rock. “It really felt right with this project,” Batmanglij said. ! Matthew Kellenberg | Monday, September 2, 2019. Like I remember the day that I added the saxophone line to “Summer Girl.” I remember turning around and looking at Danielle and expecting her not to like it. "I was like 'What? Will be used in accordance with our Privacy Policy. And I contributed to one of the many millions of people who streamed that song the weekend that it came out. Looking for more? To others, she is a music industry plant, a young woman whose father’s connections paved the way for her swift rise. And the first thing she said to me was, “Your album changed my life.” And I said, “Which one?” And she meant Half-Light, my solo album from 2017. Sofia. The Observer is a student-run, daily print & online newspaper serving Notre Dame, Saint Mary's & Holy Cross. Track two, “Impossible,” for example, boasts a cascading keyboard riff à la “Contra,” the colorful sophomore album from indie outfit Vampire Weekend. So that idea was one of, like, four ideas that Ezra [Koenig] and I started in Martha’s Vineyard in, I think, April 2012. And from the outset of us working on that song, he was like, “I think this will be one of the three duets.” So from my perspective what I wanted to do was to take up the task so that you could hear both of their voices distinctly but also in harmony. [Working with Ezra again] didn’t feel different. In addition to her pacing, Clairo has also upended her production style. High-Quality and Interactive, Transpose it in any key, change the tempo, easy play & practice. Our friends in Grizzly Bear, they only work by taking these trips where they get away from their normal life and they sort of seclude themselves. Softly. © 2021 Condé Nast. With his debut album, Half-Light, he was a producer and a solo artist. album: "Immunity" (2019) Alewife. Written as well as produced by Clairo, with help from co-writer Faye Ramos and producer Rostam Batmanglij. Vanity Fair may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. She sent me her E.P. And that’s still in “We Belong Together.” In fact, that guitar was recorded in Martha’s Vineyard. Feel Something. Rostam Batmanglij Inspired by the fight against climate change, Rostam has shared a new song, 'These Kids We Knew' - written while he was recovering from COVID-19 last March "in a fever-dream state". The track was produced by Rostam Batmanglij (Clairo, Haim).The track is now available via streaming services. There’s no way this song could possibly be good. That’s something that resonates with me. I loved that there were these songs that had come from such different places, coming from her writing over beats that I had made and songs that she literally sat with an acoustic guitar and wrote on her own, and then us having this joint task of sitting together and making all of them sound like an album.\, I met Danielle [Haim] years and years ago. The connection is self-evident: Rostam Batmanglij, once a member of Vampire Weekend, joins “Immunity” as a co-producer. White Flag. It’s kind of empty, but it’s still beautiful. 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