CHLOE CHARLES plays Revival on Wednesday (February 13). See listing. Rating: NNN
There’s growing buzz behind Toronto singer/songwriter Chloe Charles, and not just because she’s Julian Lennon’s stepsister. (Okay, that probably helps a bit.) That family connection is misleading anyway – Charles’s sound is much closer to soul, jazz and folk than to guitar pop. Comparisons to Feist and Joni Mitchell aren’t unfair, but she puts more emphasis on quirky grooves and dense layers of vocals. Calling it “chamber-soul” sounds like a music critic joke, but it’s pretty accurate.
While her vocal and guitar talents are undeniable, Charles would benefit from either pulling back on some of the melodrama or going all the way by taking the angst into Fiona Apple territory. Her eccentric tendencies are her best attributes, but the experimental interludes also make the more conventional aspects of her sound seem conservative. Nevertheless, her charisma and skills guarantee that we’ll be hearing a lot more about her soon.
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