In her latest single Charli Adams tells us about her conversations with God. Opening with a thrumming beat and squeaking guitar chords, “Cheer Captain” is a masterful delivery of finding your identity after rejecting the one pushed on you.
“‘Cheer Captain’ is a resentful and regretful song about struggling with a saviour complex as a serial people pleaser,” Adams says about the track, mentioning that this identity snaked its way into her relationships with religion, parents, and men. Adams goes from confessional box to rocking out in her basement in past-decade checkered attire confessing: “I don’t want to be her.”
When EARMILK spoke with Adams in 2019 ahead of the release of her “Good at Being Young” EP, she mentions her conservative Alabama upbringing before making the break to Nashville to pursue music. It’s a familiar feeling for many – the confusion between who you were taught to be and who you want to be. The video helps us visualize Adams's story through the catholic-school-girl outfit and That 70’s Show camera angles. The combination locking of a stash provides a light-hearted take on an all too accurate struggle of youth.
The single's reflective nature helps usher in a new era as the latest release from Adams's upcoming debut LP Bullseye, due out July 16th via Color Study.
Photo credit: Slater Goodson & Dawson Waters