Rostam and Clairo go way back. In 2019, the former Vampire Weekend member Rostam Batmanglij and the teenage indie-pop phenom Claire Cottrill worked together to produce Clairo's debut album Immunity. Later this week, Rostam will release his new solo LP American Stories, and Clairo is the only featured guest. We already posted Rostam's early singles "Like A Spark" and "Back Of A Truck," and now we get to hear his Clairo collab "Hardy."
"Hardy" is named after the French singer François Hardy, who was originally sampled on the track. That sample isn't on "Hardy" anymore, but the track does have another sample, of Georges Delerue score for the classic Truffaut film Day For Night. Rostam has been sitting on this instrumental since 2012, and the final version also has cello from Hamilton Berry, bass clarinet from Henry Solomon, and piano from Rostam himself.
Even more than Rostam or Clairo, the star of "Hardy" is the bright, efflorescent string simple, which makes a striking, vivid backdrop for a fond, bittersweet pop song. Rostam builds on the sample in really cool ways, layering drums and effects while singing in a sleepy murmur. When Clairo's voice comes in, she sounds like she's floating. In a press release, Rostam says, "'Hardy’'is a song about looking forward and looking back. Ultimately, I hope it leaves you with some feeling of hope for the future. I’m so happy Claire could make a guest appearance and sing her own section of the song — I have always loved the way her voice communicates optimism." Check out the Antony Muse-directed video below.
American Stories is out 5/15 on Matsor Projects/Secretly Distribution.
