There's a corner of the Internet dedicated to Hot Cheetos prom-posals, the ridiculous, half-hearted ritual of asking someone out with a bag of Flamin' Hot Cheetos and a poster scribbled with a slew of bad puns. No wonder Clairo, the moniker of 19-year old lo-fi pop musician Claire Cottrill, opted to name her hooky ode to a doomed fling after the finger-reddening snack.
"Flaming Hot Cheetos" is a skittish lament to a young partnership borne of convenience over passion, told over a feedback loop of xylophonic synths. Throughout, she's tentative but not timid, capturing a generation of infatuated young folks more precisely than any armchair teenager.
In a video directed by Matthew Dillon Cohen, who's worked with the likes of GoldLink and Lil Yachty, Cottrill rolls fresh out of an ASOS catalog into a parking lot only to be surrounded by a Hot Cheeto-costumed dance troupe traipsing around her. It's spliced together with a tableau of other hotly-tipped young talents, including Cuco, Michael Seyer and Cousin Stizz, hanging out in a diner. Saturated in neon colors, it's a cinematic anti-prom fever dream.
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