With a knack for making the most charming indie-pop tunes around, Southern California teen CLAIRE ROSINKRANZ is experiencing her coming-of-age moment with debut album, ‘Just Because’. Check out the latest cover story for our New Music Friday playlist edit, The Cut.

Words: Martyn Young.

→Like many new artists, Claire Rosinkranz’s path to success came via TikTok and a ubiquitous viral hit. 2020’s breezy and joyous summer jam ‘Backyard Boy’ established the then 16-year-old Californian singer as a fresh and vibrant new pop voice, and she spent the next three years releasing a string of well-received singles and an EP, 2021’s ‘6 Of A Billion’, which further established Claire’s creative world. Everything seemed to be idyllic and going oh so very well; however, this year, as she was poised to release her debut album, Claire suffered some health issues that meant the well-laid plan had to be slightly changed. The resultant nine months give ‘Just Because’ an added resonance as it documents some of the happiest times in Claire’s life set against some of the more recent challenges which she has overcome.

“It’s a big moment. I’m super excited,” she beams. Indeed, this is one of the first interviews she’s done since she got sick. A chance to step back into normality and remind us of her huge personality. “It’s a very interesting time for me to release an album,” she says. “I’m on the road to recovery. I’m still in my recovery process and kind of healing a lot of things, but I’m doing so much better. It’s been a bit of a whirlwind. At the beginning, I wasn’t even able to walk. I was super weak. I’m now walking, and I’m talking, and I’m conscious, and I’m here, so I’m a lot better.” Releasing their debut record is a massive event for any artist, but given the trauma Claire has endured, the significance of people finally getting to hear this body of work is even more important. “It’s super rewarding,” she says. “It feels like a little bit of light in the midst of a lot of chaos and a dark time.”

It’s easy to see why people fell in love with Claire so quickly. Bursting with personality, she’s always eager to tell us about her life and everything that goes into her creative process. The last time we spoke to Claire, she told us all about her beach trips, her dog Coco and her love of cooking. This time she also tells us about cooking but with a more holistic approach as she reveals the restorative joy of banana bread. “Since I got super sick, I have been in massive healing mode, so I’ve got into nutrition and health and finding out what I can eat because I can’t eat a lot of things, so it’s pushed me to make a lot of interesting meals,” she explains. “I’m a health freak. I’m a health food guru. I’ve been making banana bread that’s gluten-free, dairy-free and sugar-free, and it’s so good. I do it every single time when I have a lot on my brain, or I’m anxious.” So, what’s the secret to a really good banana bread, then? “Super ripe bananas and lots of them, and that’s what makes it sweet.” There you go then, dear reader, now you too can make your own banging banana bread.

Away from the kitchen, Claire reflects on the years leading up to ‘Just Because’. “Over the last three years, oh man, honestly, everything has just gone so fast,” she exclaims. “Part of me feels like it was yesterday that I dropped ‘Backyard Boy’, and it just feels like a little tiny blip, but now all of a sudden, I’m 19 years old, and I’m dropping my debut album.” It’s hard to reflect on such a sudden rise when you’re in the middle of it. “I don’t really know how it’s felt,” she admits. “I feel very much like myself, and I get to do what I love the most. I’m always creating. Everything that I’m experiencing, every little thing that happens, is constantly being written down. I feel like me at 19 years old. My experience has been very interesting. I don’t really know how to sum it up into one little thing.”

One thing that is certain, though, is the part music played in her life growing up and how she knew that this was definitely what she was going to do. “Ever since I was little, I knew I wanted to do music for the rest of my life,” she explains. “It wasn’t really like I dropped ‘Backyard Boy’ and saw that it did well, so now I want to do music. I knew this was something I wanted to do, but I just didn’t expect it to happen and have a song for the first thing I put out blow up right then and there. After that, the thought process was, ‘Oh, I want to keep doing this and keep making pieces of art for people to listen to’, and eventually, I was like, ‘I think it’s time for an album’.”

“I listened to a lot of things, whatever my parents were playing, but I feel like what really influenced my own music was watching my parents making music.” Both of her parents are musicians, but her dad Ragnar has been her closest musical confidant and collaborator as she developed her taste and artistry. “My dad would always be composing in the studio and making live music in the living room, the same with my mum. Most of the stuff that inspired what I do now came from watching them and being literally in the creative zone 24/7. I would listen to The Beatles, Michael Jackson, and Jack Johnson, that’s a funny one, but I love his singer-songwriter vibe; I would listen to him at dinner parties. Also, Norah Jones and Amy Winehouse.”

The impetus to make music is so burned into her memory that she can even pinpoint the precise moment when she had the realisation that would form the rest of her life. “When I was 11, I had this moment when there was a little voice in my head saying ‘do music’,” she laughs. “There was literally a switch at 11. I remember the exact moment. I was in the back of my cousin’s car, and I just felt like I’m going to do music; this is what I’m going to do. I talked to my dad and said I wanted to start making my own songs because I was so used to going into the studio and working on stuff with him, just random little things for TV or commercials and movies, but I was like, wait, I can do this myself. I’ve been writing songs since I was a super little babe, but between 11-14, I started making a bunch of stuff in the studio with my dad. It wasn’t super serious, but more learning how to make my own songs properly for the first time and then at 16 was when I put out that EP with ‘Backyard Boy’.”

When it came to making the album, Claire tried to keep things as simple and pure as possible. The sound is breezy, indie-pop with a smart edge, but it’s also underpinned by a reflectiveness and a deep quality that belies the seemingly endless sunshine of the music. It’s a compelling dynamic from a songwriter becoming more and more adept at combining light and shade and laughter, joy and heartbreak. “I didn’t go in with one overall vision,” she says. “I made a bunch of songs, and they were all over the course of my life as an 18-year-old girl. Honestly, it’s for people to relate to. It’s like a coming-of-age movie. That’s how I envisage it. When you listen to the album, people who are older than me can step back into that time in their lives, and people around my age get to relate to the things that I’m doing because that’s what a lot of people my age are doing. It makes you feel super free and young. It goes through little heartbreaks and boys and relationships. It documents the adventures that I’m having. It’s a very carefree thing. You put it on and live like you’re in a little indie coming-of-age film.”

The process of making the album and discovering new things and different experiences was cyclical, as Claire used the process to help her navigate some challenging events in one of the most pivotal periods of her life. A further illustration of how this album is more important for Claire than just another release. “I was experiencing a lot of new stuff for the first time,” she reflects. “I was experiencing challenging times for the first time. You’re constantly experiencing little challenges, but this last year of being 18, there were some things that I went through that were a lot more challenging and made me grow up in a lot of ways. There was a chunk, too, where I was having my fun coming-of-age moment, and then halfway through summer, I went through more difficult stuff, and I didn’t really know how to process it except through the music. That’s where some of those deeper and more emotional moments like ‘Banksy’ and ‘Polarised’ come from. Honestly, you just have to listen to the songs to understand what’s going on in my brain because that’s why I write it. I prefer to write it in music than talk about it. The album really helped me work through a lot of stuff. Even some of the songs that I would write, I would then listen to those songs to help me through that time in my life. After I went through something, I’d write about it then that would help me get through my own shit. I want this project to be able to help other people through those situations as well.”

It’s clear that the period of making the album and dealing with her health issues this year has had a massive effect on Claire. She’s eager to get back to work and get back to the exciting business of being a pop star but is also equally conscious of doing things in a different way, taking her time and looking for ways to share her experiences and what she’s discovered about herself with her young engaged audience on a deeper level. “I’m getting well enough to where I can get back into the creative world and how we can roll out the album in a different way because I’ve come from being so sick. It’s definitely not the traditional way of putting out an album, but we’re figuring it out,” she says resolutely. “It all depends on my health right now. It’s navigating that. I do want to make more music about this whole health journey that I’ve gone through. It’s really crazy, but you really need to prioritise your health and take time for yourself. I was completely off for three months. I was feeling like three months could be the end of the world. Some people might get sick and be out for a weekend, and it feels like the end of the world, but really, in the grand scheme of things, it’s such a short period of time. I would really like to do something this year, either through music or another social outlet, to be able to talk about that experience and help other people, especially young people in this generation who feel the pressure of keeping up and working and moving. You can’t be running that fast all the time. I’d like to help people slow down and tell them that’s ok.” ■