by Jare C (@jareccurtis)
Throughout her career, Clementine Creevy’s project Cherry Glazerr has been hard to pin down as any one thing. Over the past ten years, the band has transitioned through many sounds, aesthetics, textures, and feelings. On their most recent offering, I Don’t Want You Anymore, they enter the realms of sugary indie rock, fuzzy garage rock, and shimmery electro pop, all with a distinctively femme underpinning.
All of these are grounds they’ve worked upon before, but here, the immersion is experimental, full-frontal, and a deep dive. From track to track, Creevy’s vocals continuously straddle the line of slick, dreamy, and driven, to maniacal and untamed. There’s a raw, emotional core to this record that continually pushes at what is more ambiguous. The truth in emotion, even when it feels distinct and real, is often obscure, and from moment to moment, Cherry Glazerr is zeroed in on those progressions. There isn’t any one musical idea that the band pins themselves too, and in that same vein, there isn’t a single emotional one either. From the tiptoeing and melancholy opening track “Addicted To Your Love,” to the fuzzy, crunchy “Touched You With My Chaos,” the dancey synth pop explosion of “Wild Times,” or the droney, pulsating closer “I Don’t Want You Anymore,” there’s a rich library of self exploration here. Thematically, a particularly striking concept is how an individual reflects their feelings off of other people and what you can learn about yourself through that practice.
Out of every song here, however, the standout must be the multifaceted, stunning journey that served as the lead single for the record, “Soft Like A Flower”. With 90s radio alt rock inspired guitars and construction, the song brilliantly contrasts the flowery subject matter of feminine softness with a powerful protective shell, perfectly encapsulating the key ideas of the record. Overall, Cherry Glazerr has come out swinging with an album that articulates the struggle of balancing your emotions with your actions, and finding ways to move through life genuinely, while still protecting yourself. Through this exploration, the band cuts to emotional truths that are universal and powerful.