4EVER

“4EVER” is the 4th single from American singer/songwriter/musician Clair (Claire Cottrill) and her 2018 EP, “diary 001”. It harnesses Clairo’s usual bedroom-pop sound, with dreamy vocals questioning the singer’s future and anxieties. “4EVER” was written by Clairo, Isaac Burns, Eddie Burns, Deaton Christ Anthony and Ashwin Torke, with Clairo also producing the song.

In an interview with music site Genuis.com, Clairo explained the inspiration and process behind “4EVER”:

Genius: What inspired the song?

Clairo: I wrote this song the night before I left for college. I don’t really know where the idea came from. I was about to go on this huge journey of going to school, and the song kind of talks about this existential, all the question I’m asking can be applied to not only a relationship, but life in general.

I was having a moment with myself, and I was like “I don’t know what’s going on. Is it ever gonna change? Am I gonna feel this way forever?” I didn’t know if I liked the school. I didn’t know if that was the right fit for me, so the mood was kind of just me being really confused. I’m confused a lot of the time.

G: How did you link up with Deaton Chris Anthony?

C: Deaton Chris Anthony is this amazing artist that I saw his Instagram for a little bit, but when I played a show in Santa Ana, I met him. He’s just like the sweetest person, and after I met him and talked to him for a little bit, I dove into his music. He makes this crazy R&B pop. He’s a superstar, but he makes funk music. When I made the song, I was like, “It’s missing something.” It was the funk bass that Deaton can only do. So I sent it to him and I was like, “Just please do something.” And he was like, “I got you.” He gave us the bass part that’s in the chorus in the beginning. I wanted to use it for the whole song, but I realized it was, it would be better if it was placed in little parts.

G: How did you link up with producer Ashwin Torke?

C: I met Ashwin because he was an engineer in the studio. He was the only person that we were really working with. I didn’t work with any other engineer the whole time I was recording in the studio. I became friends with him. He was getting into the music, and I think he really liked the song, which was cool. He kind of just picked up a bass and started going crazy with this actual funk bass, which is the bass that runs through the entire song. I was like, “Okay. This just came out of nowhere.” He’s a very quiet person but so talented and I’m really glad he’s on it, because he helped me so much figure out, not be so embarrassed in the studio. I’m like, “Can we do that like another 100 times before I get it?” The vocals on this song took me a really long time. I’m still not 100% happy, I’m always weirdly not satisfied with everything I do, but I love this song, and I worked so hard on it.

G: How did you link up with the Burns Twins?

C: I met them in Chicago. Eddie Burns is my drummer, and I met his brother and we just sat in the studio, and they helped a lot with the arrangement. I think I’m good in knowing what sounds pleasant to the ear, but I’m bad at building up and only giving that part of the song when its needed. Not like the entire time. A lot of my songs are just loops of beats I like, when in reality it can be stripped away and the best parts can be at different moments. They helped me spread it all out and make it what it is now, which is perfect. I’ve been working on the song for six or seven months, so it feels really good to have it out in its final form and not just another demo. Which is, I almost released it as a demo. I almost released it as the thing I made at first, which some parts are still there. A lot of the keys are still there, and obviously the writing, but its not at all what it is now, which I’m happy about.

The music video was released on Clairo’s YouTube channel the same day as the song’s release; the 27th April 2018. The description of the video states that the video features Clairo’s friends, and that she also directed, filmed and edited the music video, which features Clairo’s friends dancing and singing along to the song. As of April 2020, the video has 8.4 million views and over 283 thousand likes.

Release Date: 27th April 2018

Songwriter/s: Isaac Burns, Eddie Burns, Deaton Chris Anthony, Ashwin Torke & Clairo

Producer: Clairo

Label: Fader Label

Music Video Release Date: 27th April 2018

Music Video Director: Clairo

Chart Rankings: “4EVER” did not reach mainstream charts, however the track does have 72 million global streams on Spotify.

The lyrics to “4EVER” can be accessed here: LINK