Singer/songwriter Pearl Charles crafts melodic, understated indie pop threaded with a twangy country edge. Raised in Los Angeles, she first surfaced amid the city’s lo-fi and garage circles before issuing her initial full-length, Sleepless Dreamer, in 2018—a meticulously assembled collection of warm country-pop issued on Brooklyn indie Kanine Records. Three years afterward she returned with Magic Mirror.
A lifelong musician and L.A. native, Charles initially drew notice as half of the lo-fi Americana duo the Driftwood Singers, which issued two EPs and one album in 2012. Time spent drumming for garage-pop outfit the Blank Tapes led her to the Burger Records collective, which put out her debut solo project, a self-titled EP in 2015. The raw, ’60s-styled garage and airy psych-pop of that early recording gradually yielded to the smoother pop and country-rock textures of Sleepless Dreamer. More concentrated and layered than her prior work, the album’s relaxed atmosphere masked steadily sharpening compositional skill. She refined the approach further on her second album, 2021’s Magic Mirror, adding subtle disco accents to the blend.
