More about: Charli Adams

Listening to Charli Adams debut album Bullseye, you would think you were hearing the work of someone born with a guitar in their hands. It was actually quite the opposite. “I didn’t really grow up in a musical environment,” the artist tells Gigwise. “I’ve always felt like I got a bit of a late start. I was playing sports in school and hated it. I remember getting out of a tennis lesson and handing my mom the racket and saying, ‘I’m never gonna be a pro at this, it’s a waste of my time’. And the next day we went to a music store and bought a guitar.” 

Even from there it would be years until Charli realised she wanted to pursue music as a career, the initial eureka moment being when she stopped covering other people’s songs and wrote something of her own. Afterwards, a move from her hometown to Nashville was the final push towards discovering the music she loved the most. “I was immediately influenced by the darker songwriters like Elliott Smith, Sun Kil Moon, Nick Drake...I think they made me feel welcome to express the melodramatic and heavy emotions that I only felt comfortable expressing through songwriting.” 

Charli definitely does that on her new album, as the whole thing comes together and acts as the soundtrack to her life so far. Bullseye talks about previous toxic relationships, her relationship with her parents and even God. “Honestly, it kind of happened by accident, I didn’t even realise I was making an album” she explains. “I’ve always written from a very personal place and it just so happened that I was unpacking all of those emotions in my personal life for the first time.” 

The album got its name after a chance encounter with Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon at a dive bar, by the way. “We were at one of my favourite bars in town…I was in a booth with some friends and he introduced himself and we actually started talking about God (believe it or not). After that we played some darts, and my first throw was a bullseye (somehow). And he nicknamed me Bullseye.” 

It must be difficult bringing up such personal topics on the record, right? “Writing about those topics came naturally,” Charli answers. “The hard part was working through them on my own. Once I’d started to unpack it, the lyrics came easily.” But surely some issues were more difficult to articulate than others? “Understanding my view on God and then coming to terms with that was a struggle because of my upbringing and who I am as a person. I was obsessed with all things existential and spiritual as a child so I think the whole religious trauma thing ran pretty deep."

“I took all of it very seriously and was pretty terrified of hell for as long as I can remember. That’s a tough one to get past, but as I healed from the experiences, writing about it seemed pretty beautiful. It meant that I had reached a point of healing that I hadn’t before.” 

All of this existential songwriting can be found on Charli’s debut album Bullseye. The whole thing comes packed with an array of very sweet sounding, guitar-orientated songs that are an absolute treat to listen to.

What’s very interesting when hearing the music on the album is the fact the topic and tone of the songs are a constant contradiction of one another. Charli talks about her past toxic relationships whilst playing music that gives you the sensation of floating. “It wasn’t as conscious as it might come across,” says Charli. “I think that’s sort of just how I generally look at life. I’ve always been pretty good at seeing beauty and hope in the dark times. I’m one of those people that would rather feel the complexities or depth of sadness than nothing at all.” 

Not only dreamlike but catchy, Charli's songs give the sense that they have not been painstakingly reverse-engineered to burrow into the brain. On Bullseye, it feels a lot more natural than that. “I don’t go in with the chorus in mind really,” she agrees. “I’ve been a part of many co-writing sessions and that seems to be the common approach but when it comes to my artistic project, I do prefer writing lyrics alone.” 

It’s a clichéd trope to say the act of creating something mirrors therapy but the reason it’s said so much is because it’s true. Charli embodies that, as the girl who once picked up a guitar because she was sick of holding a tennis racket now makes music with a tone that reflects her general outlook on life, whilst discussing the topics that have given her said outlook. “I’m surprised with how many people resonate with my specific experience," she says. "This album became a real introduction to who I am, as I was unpacking my childhood and past.” 

Bullseye arrives 16 July via Color Study.

More about: Charli Adams