Since 2013, Clementine Creevy has been releasing scintillatingly raw, off-kilter indie-pop under the moniker Cherry Glazerr. With each album, we journeyed with Creevy through another chapter of her life as it tumbled forth in sticky soft guitar parts and weighted, honest lyricism. Creevy is nothing if not confrontational, though the person she confronts more often than not is herself. “I just always want to lead with my heart,” she tells AP from her home in Los Angeles, adding, “and that ends up making the best shit.” While her discography has floated from the worlds of noise pop to ‘90s grunge, Creevy’s intentional injection of herself, and her heart, has yet to waver. And it is this signature intentionality that has resulted in the four years of pause since Creevy’s last album, Stuffed & Ready — years the artist has spent doing just that, pausing. Rushing, when it comes to the creative process, holds little merit for Creevy — and once again, her careful diligence has paid off, and today, listeners are eagerly reaping the rewards.
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Alongside co-producer Yves Rothman, Cherry Glazerr’s I Don’t Want You Anymore leans further into rock than ever before, without losing touch with Creevy’s emotional candidness — rather, on this album, she easily embraces the wonderfully unsettling depths of the human psyche, in real time. While overuse and misguided context may have watered down the idea of an artist “finding” or reckoning with oneself, Creevy swiftly bursts the bubble of cliches with a pulsating tracklist that proves she is doing just that, with grace. Cherry Glazerr’s latest triumph pulls from places both unexpected and universally relatable, from Gregg Araki films to the COVID-19 pandemic, and drawing in artists like the Drums’ Jonny Pierce and Suzy Shinn, but while we’re just diving in, Creevy is already gearing up for the next one.
Congratulations on the album. How are you feeling about it?
I’m stoked. I love that it’s coming out — it takes so long to put the album out after you’ve finished actually recording it. But for some reason, a lot of the songs are still hitting for me. I’m very proud and excited about this album in particular.
What feels different about this album?
Well, all this press has been coming out, and it’s interesting to see in actual print what I said, with my mouth. [Laughs.] I’m just like, “Oh, my God, what was I saying?” That’s so embarrassing. But on that note, I keep saying that this is my “more mature album,” which honestly makes me want to make the next one so fucking stupid and immature and completely fuck it up! Sorry, am I swearing too much?
Go for it, swear even more. How would you describe this “maturity” that you feel like you are already trying to move away from?
I’m just in a different phase of life. It’s naturally going to be more mature just because I am maturing. But the music I make is always a reflection of where I’m at in life, and what I’m going through. It’s funny because I was just telling someone that this album specifically might sound like it’s the heaviest, darkest thing that I’ve made — and people have even been like, “Whoa, it’s really heavy” — and I think that’s true, but I also feel like I was in a worse place mentally in my life when I was writing Stuffed & Ready, the one that I put out before this one. I was going through a tough period during that time, and it was a lot about feeling suffocated — and I feel like on this album, I was coming out of a lot of that and reckoning with myself. So even though it seems like the heaviest stuff, it’s been catharsis for me. And it’s not about feeling suffocated, but the opposite of that. Really taking a hard look at myself and being truthful to myself.
Having spoken with so many artists about what winds up reflected in their work, it seems that most of the time it’s not when the pain is greatest that they are making those heavy albums — which would be near impossible — it’s when they’re moving through it, reflecting on that pain or intensity.
Yeah, that is really interesting, because you’re emotionally blocked when you’re fucked up in your life, and yeah, you’re going to make better stuff when you feel more of a sense of emotional freedom — when you’re better able to get in touch with who you really are and your real emotions and your real artistry.
Given the weight and depths of this album, what was your writing process like?
I just always want to lead with my heart, and that ends up making the best shit. I’m a very therapeutic writer. It’s all a form of therapy for me. I have a complicated relationship with myself. I went through a period of gaslighting myself a lot, because I had gotten into that mode [of] hanging out with people who did that. I have been trying to get out of that, and I think with that album, a lot in these interviews I’ve gotten to the root of what I’m trying to do with myself, which is just be truthful.
“Touched You With My Chaos,” I had just watched Gregg Araki’s film Mysterious Skin, and it was really affecting for some reason. I was just in a place in life where I was creating an avoidant attachment style with myself, and hooking up with this guy that I knew from middle school and that was weird as adults, which was too funny. I remember sitting down, and the whole song came to me at once and poured out of me after watching that film.
“Shattered” I wrote after I came to Yves bawling, crying dealing with family drama. Not even drama, really, just thinking about my own place in my family and familial bonds — and that one I wrote while I was crying in the room. Yves has seen me at my worst, and through so much shit. I feel like I really write when inspiration hits, and I don’t really try to force it. I do think that makes me a bit of a slow writer. I just don’t really see the point of doing it a different way.
What kind of music have you been listening to lately?
I’ve been really into Guided by Voices. ‘80s stuff. The thing about it is, I feel like there’s been so much talk about the ‘90s, and people tell me a lot that my music sounds like that era, which isn’t even what I’m going for necessarily. I understand that, especially with [songs like “Sugar”] on the new album. But I’m not heavily influenced by the ‘90s — and I’ll be honest with you, I’m not really a nerd about music stuff. I don’t really know the facts. I just like the songs that I hear and think are cool. A lot of my friends are fucking music nerds, and I love them for that. Oh, also, I really like PinkPantheress and Bad Bunny.
With this album coming out, are you someone who’s excited to get on the road — or dreading that?
I actually like touring! I love the manic energy of it and the high highs and the low lows. I feel like I have some of the best memories of being on the road.
What is your favorite touring story?
It was so magical I don’t know if it was real. In 2016 or ‘17, we were driving in the South, maybe near Memphis, on a day off. We were all really hungover, and I think some people were on mushrooms… It was drizzling, and there were these rolling hills, and five or six of us climbed this fence into an open field and all took a nap. [We] collectively all woke up hours later and got back in the van.
