From A&R Manager to A&R's Top Pick

How We Arrived at spill tab's Debut Album

Claire Chicha, also known as spill tab, once sat behind the desk as an A&R intern at Atlantic Records, sifting through demos and identifying promising talent. Now, her name is being circled in red by record labels and lighting up playlists worldwide. Few artists understand the industry machine from both sides quite like Chicha does, and that inside-outside perspective on her long-awaited debut album.

spill tab is a French-Korean multi-instrumentalist, producer, and singer-songwriter whose global upbringing aids her in crafting boundary-defying pop. Born in Thailand to an Algerian father and Korean mother, Chicha's formative years were spent bouncing between Paris, Bangkok, and Los Angeles. The spill tab story officially began with her debut single Decompose in September 2019, but the prelude involved a summer 2018 A&R internship at Atlantic Records (source: LinkedIn) while Chicha was wrapping up her senior year at NYU. After her debut single dropped, she pivoted to a stint as a Merchandise Manager for friend and future collaborator, Gus Dapperton for his late 2019 US tour

.In late 2020, spill tab’s second ever single Name found its way into my everyday playlist. From there, her Oatmilk, Bonnie, and Klepto EPs along with various singles have made their way into heavy rotation. More recently, her support slot on Sabrina Carpenter's "Emails I Can't Send" tour exposed her to larger-sized crowds without compromising the intimate, bedroom-pop sensibilities that make up her musical identity. Her debut album Angie feels like the culmination of this learning journey, not only with production with Ableton but about herself creatively.

Production credits on the album reveal spill tab having a producer label for every song on the record, but that wasn’t the only surprise lurking within the credits. Jared Soloman, AKA Solomonphonic, had been one of my favorite pop producers and writers for the past ~2-3 years or so. Jared has worked with SZA, BROCKHAMPTON, Lola Young, and most often with Pop Lobster Royalty Remi Wolf. Soloman is already a big deal in indie pop, and I expect him to take off and be spotted on the credits of some massive projects in the future. Seeing Jared on five of the songs off Angie wasn't a shock to me as I’ve been of a fan of Jared and spill tab’s previous work together. What was surprising was just how refreshing and interesting these tracks were. Together, this spill tab album is the coolest sound exploration I’ve heard in the Indie Pop world since Billie Eilish’s 2019 When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?.

I highly recommend giving spill tab’s new album Angie a thorough listen. I’m a big fan of Athlete, by Design & Adore Me. If you're a fan of Billie Eilish, Remi Wolf, Clairo, JAWNY or any of the other artists mentioned in this article, be careful, spill tab is here to disrupt your summer listening plans. There’s a dozen spill tab songs I’d consider requirements for anyone with internet connection Sunburn, Grade A (feat. JAWNY), Cotton Candy, fetish, just do her entire discography. If there is one song that you MUST listen to by spill tab: its CREME BRULEE, highlighting her production skills, vocals and attention to song structure.

What we're witnessing with spill tab is an artist who's absorbed the lessons from both sides of the industry divide—understanding what executives look for while maintaining the creative vision that makes A&Rs fight to sign you in the first place. Her debut isn't just a collection of songs; it's a masterclass in navigating the modern music landscape on your own terms.