Quick-fire Questions: 10 minutes with Charlotte Cornfield
There’s something about a sumptuous, understated slide guitar that makes you want to snuggle into a melody like a pillow after your first night shift. That’s a sound and sentiment that runs richly throughout Charlotte Cornfield’s latest album, Hurts Like Hell.
Reflecting on becoming a mother, Cornfield is wistful but poignant as she teams up with producer Phil Weinrobe. Known for working with Big Thief, Weinrobe brings that countrified indie-folk tone to tales of lovers and heartaches. These narrative songs are rendered three-dimensional thanks to fleeting visits from collaborators like Feist, Buck Meek, Christian Lee Hutson, Maia Friedman, and Palehound’s El Kempner, who take on the role of new characters in Cornfield’s sepia-toned chronicle.
It marks Cornfield’s steady rise that in the wake of working alongside her on ‘Living With It’, Feist even shared, “Have I ever been this proud of collaborating with someone?” She has scored similar high praise from the likes of Iggy Pop and even the future Paul McCartney impersonator, Paul Mescal. Those are three pretty disparate figures, but their reverence shows how Cornfield connects on a deeply human level regardless of pre-existing ‘taste’.
So, we caught up with her ahead of the release of Hurts Like Hell, which is due for release on March 27th, and delved into her current wistful disposition. In less time than it takes to run a bath – an apt analogy given the flickering candle feeling of the album – we learnt Cornfield’s thoughts on The Beatles, West End Girl, and Bismarck, North Dakota. Enjoy…
Quick-fire Questions with Charlotte Cornfield:
1. What song would you want played at your funeral?
“‘Just Like Heaven’ by The Cure.”
2. What has been your favourite release of 2026 so far?
“The singles off of the new Bill Callahan record. I can’t wait to hear the whole thing.”
3. Aside from those you’ve already worked with, who would be your dream collaborator?
“Anderson .Paak comes to mind. And Joni Mitchell”.
4. What song are you most proud of so far?
“I’m really proud of the song ‘Living With It’ off the new record. That one was very challenging to write, and it took me a long time, but I’m so happy with where it landed. The band played so beautifully, too. And Feist. Feist! SHE is a dream collaborator.”
5. Where is the weirdest place you have played?
“I played at a strange little festival in Bismarck, North Dakota, many years ago. My friend Boris and I had to hitchhike from the Greyhound Station to this park, and there were about 20 kids gathered around. It felt maybe slightly Christian but overall just very odd.”
6. Do you remember the first song that made you realise the true depth of music?
“‘Radio Cure’ by Wilco. I heard that song for the first time in my early teens and listened to it on repeat for a long time. It’s slow yet driving, depressed yet hopeful. The production is brilliant, and Jeff’s voice is so singular, comforting, beautiful. And then that end refrain, ‘Oh, distance has no way of making love understandable’. As a teenager who was yearning, that was so powerful to me. I just remember thinking, ‘Wow. I want to make music for the rest of my life.'”
7. What was the first song you ever recorded?
“It was a song called ‘Inch x Inch’ that I wrote when I was 15. I recorded it with my drum teacher at the time, Ryan Granville Martin.”
8. What was the last great book you read?
“Evenings and Weekends by Oisin McKenna.”
9. What opening lyric do you wish you had written?
“‘Think I’ll pack it in and buy a pick-up / Take it down to LA’ – From ‘Out on the Weekend’ by Neil Young.”
10. What’s one venue that you’d love to play?
“Carnegie Hall. What a room!”
11. How do you feel about the forthcoming Beatles movies?
“Four biopics? Feels like a cash grab. I’ll watch them all, though.”
12. Do your instruments have nicknames?
“Nope. Not really my style.”
13. How cathartic was writing Hurts Like Hell?
“It was honestly a very joyful process. I felt unattached to specific ideas of what these songs were supposed to be and really just let things flow. It was just letting go. I loved it.”
14. What’s one album people might not expect you to be into?
“West End Girl by Lily Allen. Incredible record.”
15. Are The Beatles overrated?
“No. Hit after hit after hit after hit after hit. Those songs are forever.”
