Sharl has traversed the reaches of pop music on her just-released album, Clichés.
Those who’ve kept up to date with Sharl might already be aware of the album’s success, with Australian songstress previewing the 10-song tracklist with previous singles Changed Too Much and No Other.
With its glittery synths and commanding vocals, Changed Too Much stands as an album highlight, while No Other showcases Sharl’s diversity with a jazz-meets-trap cut that’s infinitely groovable.
The two singles are album standouts within an already stellar tracklist, which sees Sharl expand her sonic palette and explore the complexities of love in what’s sure to be a breakout moment for the singer-songwriter.
On album opener More Than Friends, Sharl slinks around sultry R&b production carried on a groovy bassline, singing in angelic vocals of her desire to escape the friendzone.
It’s a worthy introduction to Clichés, establishing Sharl’s command of the microphone and clear pop finesse. The singer’s knack for earworm hooks continues on All You Want, which coasts on a bombastic beat and forefronts a seductive timbre.
Here, Sharl invokes the jarring, synth-infused hyper-pop of Charli XCX, one of many contemporaries that the singer emulates throughout the remaining tracklist.
Sharl treads dreamier territories on Evaporated, reflecting on lost love and fading romance with the warm intimacy of a bedroom pop gem.
The vulnerable lyricism — so intimate you’d imagine it scrawled in Sharl’s own diary — becomes a throughline on the album, as the songwriter bares her soul with tales of euphoria and sorrow.
Real Love Part II marks Clichés’s foray into pop balladry, spotlighting Sharl’s most powerhouse delivery and tracing her experience of sleepless nights and “shadows of the past.”
Later, Fallen adopts a pop-rock groove with punch guitars and gritty vocals, while Cut-Throat World ascends to ambient heights with a sound reminiscent of Ellie Goulding.
Clichés finds its worthy conclusion on final track Find Me, a stirring reflection of mistimed love adorned in bouncy trap beats and a cathartic EDM chorus.
“It’s an exploration of the meaning of love: that it can take many forms,” Sharl said of Clichés in a press statement. “[They] might be seen as clichés, but who are we to judge which aspect of love is better or more meaningful?”
Clichés is a shimmering and expansive addition to Sharl’s discography, somehow outdoing the success of her 2022 debut City Lights.Listen to Sharl’s new album Clichés — premiering on Happy Mag — below.
