“So Perfect” by Chloe J

While there are a lot of pop vocalists who let the hook put the finishing touch on an emotional point in a performance, Chloe J’s sound demands something a little more refined. In the new single “So Perfect,” this singer doesn’t produce a central harmony that allows for the verses to become interdependent on one another – truthfully, it pits certain instrumental contributions against each other for an explosive track that sounds like an all-out tribute to the subtle aggressiveness of vintage R&B slow jams in a couple of spots. “So Perfect” is a shot of pop vitality if I’ve ever heard one in indie pop, and it ironically stands up to what its title suggests it is.  

It’s really easy to get caught up in the instrumentation in this song and lose sight of the lyrical substance as it comes to us in more of a vulnerable tone than the crunch of the beat would emit, but appreciating both elements for their grandeur is essential to understanding the artistry of Chloe J as a solo performer. She’s hitting some pretty emotional ground here with a running game that tells me she has more content like this just waiting to boil up to the surface, and compared to others in her scene, this is a very unguarded songwriting style in general.  

I love the way the mix favors the harmony above all else in the chorus, handing off a challenge to our singer that she steps up to immediately with moxie you just don’t find browsing the FM spectrum nowadays. There’s something original and honest about the stance she’s presenting with the tone of the lyrics, but with the quaking energy of the groove behind her, we feel the core strength of the narrative as much as we could the texture rendered from the bassline and drums clattering together and becoming a cohesive backend.  

Contrast isn’t as emphasized in this song, nor the music video, as it could have been, but I still think there’s room for such a feature to turn up in a live performance of “So Perfect.” The way the composition was recorded feels like a bit of a template for what we’re going to get out of a concert experience with Chloe J, and if there’s anything obvious about her music just by listening to this new release, it’s that it would be best digested in a packed house filled to the roof with excited pop and R&B fans.  

I didn’t know much about Chloe J before 2022, but I love what she’s doing in this brand-new single and music video combo. There hasn’t been a lot to be excited about in pop lately, and seeing as the live circuit has been seeing a major resurgence around the world since a relative return to normal concert concepts in 2021, it’s easy to understand why hip-hop and trap have slowly spurred forth an erosion on what was once an anti-beat-heavy establishment. Chloe J isn’t letting go of exceptionally smart crossover notions in her music, and for her efforts in “So Perfect,” I think she deserves all of the credit she’s been receiving from the press lately.  

Mindy McCall