Chlöe’s solo star shines
Ahead of her 25th birthday, Chlöe visited NPR’s Tiny Desk with her band and music director, Derek Dixie, to deliver live, soulful renditions of six tracks featured on her debut album In Pieces.
The multitalented singer-songwriter has certainly faired her share of brutal social media storms. From being ridiculed for exploring her sensuality, to being accused of being inauthentic while coming to the defense of her younger sister Halle, Chlöe has unjustly been made into a social media punching bag and commentary sounding board.
The online reaction to Chlöe’s Tiny Desk Concert has undoubtedly been the most positive she’s received since debuting as a solo act, and may very well be the incident that shifts her career into the next gear.
Leading up to the release of In Pieces, Chlöe introduced us to her solo persona through a handful of singles, most of which were met with a lukewarm reception at best. “Treat Me” takes too long to kick off, even with a sample from Bubba Sparxxx’s “Ms. New Booty” supporting the chorus. The foreplay foray “Surprise” became a reliable replay for R&B radio DJs along with “Have Mercy” and “For the Night” thereby introducing Chlöe to a broader demographic. A notable misstep was taken when Chlöe announced her collaboration with Chris Brown on “How Does It Feel.” The backlash Chlöe faced for this creative decision is far more memorable than the track itself. And “Pray It Away” is surely the sore thumb sticking out of the bunch.
It quickly became apparent to those familiar with Chloe’s pure vocal prowess from her time performing with her sister in the Grammy nominated duo Chloe x Halle, that the older of the two would take a while to solidify a solo sound that not only sells in the flexible landscape of R&B, but also compliments her tone and range.
The Atlanta songstress dropped In Pieces on March 31st and it squeaked its way onto Billboard’s 200 at #119. The album was met with mixed reviews. One review stomped on the echo chamber of critiques thrown Chlöe’s way, “It’s always difficult for young adults to [grow] up. It’s even harder when older adults won’t let it happen because of their own ideals of purity and respectability politics.” Yes, the album is an exploration of Chlöe’s emotions since becoming romantically and sexually involved with (what we can guess to be thanks to her lyrics) sub-par men. But the growing pains of an emerging solo act can also be heard clear as day. With production choices that often push Chlöe’s vocals to the background and muddy her pronunciation and tone, In Pieces doesn’t sound too dissimilar from the efforts of her contemporaries.
Chlöe does not seem to recognize the one major factor sets her apart from most of her agemates: she can blow.
Her vocal control and range got the chance to be front and center in her Tiny Desk Concert. She performed a jazzy rendition of “Surprise” that leaked over into the album’s party anthem contender “Body Do,” but the tempo change initiated at the first run of the song’s chorus kicked up with the drum pad and bass. This section featured several exciting tonal changes from the singer, which resulted in it becoming the most clipped and reshared portion of the performance across social media platforms. The way that Chlöe is allowed to interact, exaggerate, and run with her voice alongside the stripped back production breathed new life into the tracks of In Pieces.
She continues on to throttle each transition from “I Don’t Mind,” into “Worried” where she’s beautifully backed by the trumpets and keys. The title track slowed the show down with Chlöe’s sultry husk dressed down in emotion taking over, but she breaks before the last song to take a sip of her drink, thank the audience, and say, “This last song I’m about to sing, I wrote because a nigga was playing games.” The Tiny Desk version of “Cheatback” and its studio album component are admittedly the same, but its beauty got buried at track number 12 out of 14.
The overwhelmingly positive reaction may just be Chlöe’s eye-opener. She and the team over at Parkwood Entertainment should take this as a sign that a vocalist of Chlöe’s caliber does not need the overworking. A voice with her power is in fact what R&B enthusiasts are searching for in the modern age. A jump in quality and content similar to that of Janet Jackson’s debut self-titled album to 1986’s Control, may very well be on the horizon for Chlöe.
