Shelly return with new EP ‘Shelly 2’
Bedroom pop is back, baby!
Photo: Press
Offering fans another two-track treat, the bedroom pop band, Shelly, released another EP, Shelly 2. After four long years, the record is a perfect sequel to their previous work as they balance a sense of indie nostalgia with a modern perspective.
At the height of indie quarantine projects, the group was formed by Clairo, real name Claire Cotrill, and Claud, real name Claud Mintz, alongside Josh Mehling and Noa Frances Getzug during the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite meeting at Syracuse University, the four never recorded in person but managed to produce an A/B side record from their homes in Los Angeles, Houston, Atlanta, and Chicago. As a result, the tracks Steeeam and Natural amassed a cult following that never gave up hope on the ensemble’s revival.
The news of the project came to fans’ surprise on social media through each band member’s respective pages and, though this a more than pleasant surprise for fans, it’s not as though listeners are shocked. During Clairo’s Charm tour across the UK and US, the group reunited during her sets at the Eventim Apollo in mid-March, Coachella in April, and The Governor’s Ball in early June.
There’s a recurring theme of recreating memories and reminiscing on the past in both track’s lyrics, but they approach the subject from different places. The A-side Cross Your Mind features Cottrill as she opens with, “This is the worst I’ve been since I’ve been home.” The song touches on a sense of angst and longing for adolescence over a building guitar riff that builds and relays. Listeners feel as though they’re going in circles as the first verse rhymes with the third: “This is the first I took in the fresh air”. Inside this song is a world uncovered upon returning home in adulthood and how it feels to be perceived by people who are no longer in our lives. Whether it’s friends or high school sweethearts, the song captures a universal feeling of return after bridges are burnt, hometown friends moved out, and nothing is left but the bottles in the basement and the beaches we visited in our childhood.
Upon first listening, it’s hard to tell Cross Your Mind transitioned into Hartwell until we hear “I’m recording this, um, while drinking a Baja Blast / So bear with me / Okay, ready?”. It’s a silly reference to the late 2010 feel of bedroom pop that usually featured a voice memo in the intro, but it reimagines the genre in a new light.
The group recalls the growing pains of university and what we do with ourselves after. This B-side packs layers upon layers of nuanced experiences from the band’s time at Syracuse University as they sing, “I wanna swim in the lake that I grew up in / Wanna spend half the day high in Boston Common / Wanna do all the things I said I’d do when I got to college”. Combining these niche experiences, the lyrics blend together what is missed and what was a missed opportunity. Exploring how easy it is to move forward while leaving a bit of ourselves behind in times and places that felt cut short, the song takes nuanced experiences and makes them ubiquitous.
Despite Shelly’s four-year hiatus, it feels as though they never left. The band’s evergreen sound managed to change in a way that didn’t lose its original tone, but reflects how each member has evolved musically and grown personally.
Shelly 2 is out now via Orange Hill Records.