Real Clairo-heads remember that back in late 2020, during the pandemic days, she formed a band called Shelly alongside Claud, Josh Mehling, and Noa Frances Getzug. They released a pair of songs, “Steeeam” and “Natural,” and Clairo explained at the time, “My best friends and i made a band and put out an A/B side- ‘Steeeam’ and ‘Natural.’ We created everything during quarantine in LA, Chicago, Houston and Atlanta.”
We haven’t really heard from them since then. A few months ago, though, Clairo performed “Steeeam” live for the first time.
Then, more recently, Clairo teased a pair of Shelly songs that were about to be liberated from the vault, writing in an Instagram Story (as Stereogum notes), “Both songs were written 5 years ago too :) Kept them safe, produced them out And soon they’ll be yours.” Those two songs, “Cross Your Mind” and “Hartwell,” are here now. The tracks have less polish than a typical contemporary Clairo song (not in a bad way) and fans who liked the original Shelly tunes ought to enjoy these, too.