Look, it's not their fault. Claud, the Brooklyn-based indie pop singer-songwriter, has nothing to do with Claude, the AI chatbot that's currently helping drone-bomb Iran or whatever the fuck. Claud has been making music since 2018, while Anthropic introduced Claude in 2023. In any case, Claud shouldn't have to change their name because the other one, the one with an E, is the one that sucks.
If you don't know about Claud, they're in the indie supergroup Shelly with Clairo, and they're the first artist that Phoebe Bridgers signed to her Saddest Factory imprint. Paul Rudd was in one of their videos once. Today, Claud announces their new album Me And The Music, the follow-up to 2023's Supermodels. Claud co-produced the LP with indie great John Congleton, and lead single "She Doesn't Love Me" is a beautifully fizzy breakup tune with lyrics that cast American society in the role of a toxic girlfriend: "I keep giving her my money, she keeps fucking with my friends/ If she thinks I’m gonna leave her, she can think again." The "beers in the air" refrain goes crazy.
In a press release, Claud says, "I love the community I have in America and find so much optimism in people being united in seeking progress. This is a love song for that community." Claud directed their own video for the song, and it's a series of cartoonishly sad solo dates around New York. At the end, though, Claud ends up with a bar full of friends, including Shelly bandmates Clairo and Josh Mehling, along with peers like Samia and Annie DiRusso. (Claud performed with many of them at Jack Antonoff's Ally Coalition Talent Show last December.) Check it out below.
TRACKLIST:
01 "Gay Witchcraft"
02 "Just Kidding"
03 "The Legend"
04 "She Doesn’t Love Me"
05 "The Reach"
06 "Spells And Fortune Tellers"
07 "I Owe You"
08 "I’m Too Sensitive"
09 "Me And The Music"
10 "Let’s End On A Good Note"
Me And The Music is out 10/23 on Dead Oceans. Pre-order it here.
