Song-like carillon not working, sadly, having variable interior (7)
I believe the answer is:
lyrical
'song-like' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'working sadly having variable interior' is the wordplay.
'working sadly' becomes 'lyric' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should believe this answer much more).
'having' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'variable' becomes 'scalar' (scalar is a kind of variable).
'interior' indicates the central letters.
The middle letters of 'scalar' are 'al'.
'lyric'+'al'='LYRICAL'
'carillon not' acts as a link.
This may not be correct. Some or all of it may be part of another bit of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for lyrical that I've seen before include "Effusive" , "Relating to song's words" , "Using poetic language, wax thus (7)" , "Enthusiastic - expressing the writer's feelings" , "Using poetic or song-like language" .)