by Chris Hatch

Going to a gig is a weirdly ridiculous thing when you think about it. A mass of people, most of them strangers, huddled into a room. Some of them expectant, some nervous, others just there because… what else would they be doing? And they’re all there to see another stranger – a stranger they may, somehow, feel they know more intimately than their closest friends. 100 people, 1000 people, 10,000 people – all of them with enough differences to fill a room twice the size, yet, for half an hour or so, they almost become one. A mass of shared energy. And it’s on Chloe Foy’s latest single, Work Of Art, that this kinship is captured.

The ber-dum of Work Of Art’s rhythm section aligns with the heartbeat of the crowd. Cymbal splashes and a winding, spangle of guitars dance across the track like stage lights reflecting off tuning pegs, the metal rim of a bass drum, or the lip of a pint glass. Foy’s voice eventually snakes out – two feet above the audiences head; a simple, lullaby-like melody swirls away, and there’s a mix of both vulnerability and assuredness to her voice, so that when she calls out ‘why won’t you let go?’ it comes across less as a question to the beyond, and more like she’s urging herself on – to let go is to be in the moment; to be part of that communal energy. 

And it works: the mixture of her beautiful, yearning voice, the searching, heartland rock of her backing band, and that other unidentifiable, intangible element that makes good music what it is, all combine to lift you out of that cramped, sweaty venue and take you – Foy, audience, band and all – away to somewhere else. A shared spirit. Three and a half minutes of being not here, not there, not anywhere. Perfect.

Debut album, Where Shall We Begin?, is out on 11th June.

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