Kevin Bronson on October 13th, 2020

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Claud is the musical moniker of Claud Mintz, a Brooklyn-based 21-year-old who makes nimble bedroom pop and whose new single “Gold” is the first release on Phoebe Bridgers’ new label Saddest Factory Records.

Claud, who released EPs in 2018 and ’19, formerly worked under the name Toast. “Gold” represents the artist’s further explorations in outsider pop — melancholic lyrics brightened by colorful synths and lithe beats.

Of the new single, Claud says: “Imagine stepping onto a ship that’s moving back ’n’ forth, back ’n’ forth but perfectly in time. ONE, two, three, four, ONE, two, three, four, ONE … You know you’re sinking, but at the same time you’re mesmerized by the way the ship synchronized itself with the sea. I have never been on a sinking ship in the middle of the sea, but I have been in a relationship.”

Christina Xing directs the video for the song. “‘Gold’ is about contradictions,” Claud says. “an instructor attempting to teach a class of monsters proper manners so they can assimilate, a relationship getting so tired and so old that even gold starts to rust (which isn’t scientifically possible).”

||| Watch: The video for “Gold”