Music Existence Because of Music, We Exist
There’s nothing quite as powerful as the rush that comes from hearing an intense collision of melodies within an insular arrangement of beats, and in the new single “So Perfect” from powerhouse pop songwriter Chloe J, the brawn of old school R&B and surreal pop gets a millennial update that puts her sound squarely in the 21st century and accessible to listeners desperate for some intriguing modern music. “So Perfect” is meat and potatoes hard pop with a slow jam mentality within its instrumental EQ, and right now, it stands as one of the most exciting new songs I’ve heard this month on either side of the dial.
The sway of the percussion is equally as potent a force to be reckoned with as any of the melodic components here, and though the vocal is soulfully brittle in a few instances prior to the latter half of the song, there’s never a moment in which it doesn’t hold its own against the wall of smooth pop intensity it stands beside in the mix.
Everything is given the required space to hold sonic integrity even at extreme (or moderate) volumes, and I would recommend listening to “So Perfect” with a good set of speakers at max volume if possible – in this setting, I think you’re going to appreciate why I found the texture on the bass to be one of the track’s best features.
“So Perfect” boasts a fine music video that identifies Chloe J as a singer disinterested in the fluff of an increasingly plasticized world of pop and post-rap hip-hop, but even so, I think her style of play is ready to take on the pop radio format so many of her influences once conquered. This is a good look to start 2023 off with, and to me, one of the best alternative R&B jams to debut this fall.
Claire Uebelacker
