Hailing from Australia, the now London-based pop artist Sharl, is known for spinning stories from the ups and downs of love and life. As a classically trained musician, Sharl infuses her music with captivating melodies, infectious electro pop beats and heartfelt lyrics which reveal a deep core of resilience and authenticity. Sharl manifests the journey of an indie pop princess on the rise.
Following the release of her debut album City Lights, Sharl continues on her fearless evolution on the lead up to her second album, Clichés. Merging her lovable sound with K-pop influence, the result is a bold and fresh palette, providing pure escapism for listeners and exploring the intense angles of love through ten unforgettable new tracks. Clichés touches on our experiences of love, ranging across all aspects: superficial to deep, fleeting to eternal, problematic to easy. Sharl explains, “It’s an exploration of the meaning of love: that it can take many forms, which might be seen as clichés, but who are we to judge which aspect of love is better or more meaningful?” Using songwriting as an outlet for her emotions and a form of therapy, Sharl continues, “I wrote the songs reflecting on experiences of love, as ultimately I see love as the universal human truth and experience that endures through the difficulties that life and the world throws at us.”
The album includes songs such as “No Other”, a track that feels like falling head over heels into a fairytale world. Through colourful melodies, a throbbing beat and bright brass section, “No Other” packs a punch, with Sharl’s soft yet powerful vocals narrating being completely intoxicated by someone. A total juxtaposition to her previous track “Changed Too Much”, which shows a horror side to love, exploring toxicity, regret and hindsight. Drawing comparisons to Taylor Swift, Sharl’s storytelling lyrics allows for listeners to envision themselves in the stories, immersing themselves in the music and feeling the emotion of the song. The accompanying music video for “No Other” is a nod to the depiction of Disney princesses as an archetype of fairytale love, released just in time for Disney’s 100th anniversary this year.
Title-track “Clichés” speaks about that butterfly feeling in your stomach in anticipation that things are finally going to happen with someone who there is undeniable chemistry with. “Clichés” showcases a dynamic and strong beat, creating an innovative sound with a defiant mood in the verse raps.
Then there are tracks such as “Fallen” which describes the uncontrollable lust and falling deep for someone through an intense rock/blues inspired sound, as well as the moody and dreamy “Find Me” where we hear the songwriter battling with an internal conflict of seeking out someone who can’t commit fully, but they can’t let go of the situation even though they know it’s not good for them.
The talented singer-songwriter has seen success having reached the semi-finals of the International Songwriting Competition, performing on the main stage at the Virgin Australia AFL Footy Festival, and multiple film festival awards for her debut music video “I Fell In Love”. As an advocate for Asian representation in the music industry, Sharl hopes to inspire people to be who they want in life and not feel restricted by pressures around them.
You can connect with Sharl on Instagram @sharlmusic, Facebook @sharlmusic and Twitter @sharlmusic
