Before she dropped one of the year’s catchiest singles, “Sue Me,” Audrey Hobert cut her teeth writing for established pop stars. The singer-songwriter worked with her pal Gracie Abrams on “That’s So True,” “Risk,” and other highlights from the singer’s 2024 album, The Secret of Us. More than a year later, Hobert is finally releasing her own debut album as a solo artist.
Who’s the Clown? marks a thrilling debut from one of pop’s sharpest up-and-coming stars, filled with synth-heavy bangers, heartbreaking glossy hooks, and introspective, revealing acoustic gems about desire and moving on.
Produced by collaborator Ricky Gourmet with every track written or co-written by Hobert, the LP opens with the humorous “I Like to Touch People,” a grooving Wheatus-esque track that Hobert says was inspired by a Steve Martin documentary. The album quickly finds its stride with the acoustic-guitar-led “Wet Hair,” the buoyant “Bowling Alley,” and the exhilarating highlight “Thirst Trap,” which ends with the confessional closer: “I’m taking thirst traps in the mirror in my room/I think I look bad but it doesn’t matter/I once read that some people’s beauty can’t be captured/And he’ll be sorry/Happy ever after” before breaking into into a dance-floor celebration with a huge sax solo.
Elsewhere, Hobert finds herself microdosing on shrooms at an afterparty at the “Chateau,” surrounded by A-listers talking about the Michelin-starred restaurants where they just ate. It’s a chill, 2000s-era pop-punk track that evokes Avril Lavigne with the killer kicker: “And you’re still DJ’ing?”
Hobert doles out essential reminders on “Don’t Go Back to His Ass,” singing “That shit is a trap/It never lasts/So don’t go back to his ass/Much better to laugh from just where you’re sat/I know it’s hard, I know he’s pretty/But baby don’t go back to his ass,” followed by a lighthearted chorus of la-da-da-dadas.
She fills her debut with cinematic moments, employing skills honed during her previous stint as a TV writer to craft songs that deserve their own coming-of-age miniseries. “Sex and the City” sees Hobert in the back of an Uber, romanticizing life until she comes to terms with the fact that the guy from the bar is “off his meds and he’s an artist.”
The excellent “Phoebe” is a reflection on feeling comfortable in your own skin, finding out that you just might be the star of the show. Here, Hobert starts watching Friends for the first time and wonders if Joey would “see in me a perfect star and want to take me home for that reason only.” She’s still got questions: “’Cause why else would you want me?” she sings in the chorus. But later on she finds answers as the song swells into a propulsive Chicks-or-Taylor-worthy ballad: “I think I’ve got a fucked-up face (Gorgeous, amazing)/And that thought used to haunt me (Beautiful, beautiful)/Till I fell in its sweet embrace (Uh huh)/Now I don’t sweat the acne (No)/It’s a bitch, but it goes away/And who cares if I’m pretty? I feel like I’m Phoebe.”
Who’s the Clown? wraps with the party anthem “Silver Jubilee.” Drinks up, dancing with friends, and embracing the moment surrounded by massive Kesha-like synths, Hobert sings: “I’m-a put my drink up/I’m-a tell my sister she’s perfect/Yeah, I’m-a live it up like my life starts now/Blink and you could miss it, it’s over.” Earlier this month, Hobert posted a photo of herself online crossing her fingers, eyes closed, with a glass of wine and a lit candle in front of her. “They will love my work/They will love my work,” she wrote in the caption. With Who’s the Clown?, Hobert has asserted her place as one of pop’s great new voices. You’ll love her work.
