Chloe Hall : In Brief

Reviews|

December 2007
White Street
Julian Bynoe, Outreach Connection (Canada)

"[Chloe Hall] has great potential for some commercial success... a refreshing change of pace from ordinary folk music "

July 2006
White Street
Ian Dearden, Trad & Now

"This is a delightful album... Chloe has talent by the bucketload and this CD is living testament to that talent... you'd do well to catch this star on the rise, while you can."

June 2006
White Street
Anne Infante, The Folk Rag

"Chloe Hall is a fine new talent on a well-deserved fast track to success… Her songs are beautifully crafted, her vocals strong and assured and delivered with sophistication and sensitivity… [Chloe's] talent as a wordsmith is obvious from the first track… this is a CD worth your attention."

November 2005
White Street
Georgie Bryant, Mediasearch.com.au

“A polished acoustic album, produced by Greg Arnold of Things of Stone and Wood fame, it is [Chloe's] maturity and experience that ultimately sets her folk/pop apart.…

January 2000
White Sky
Anthony Horan, Inpress

“White Sky oozes quality… it plays like a virtual handbook on how to approach a singer/songwriter record… it deserves to be noticed, and with songs like this it undoubtedly will be…

May 2000
White Sky
Lauren Mooney, Beat Magazine

“ White Sky makes for great listening all of the time… she has a strength and serenity in her voice that seems to emit from deep within her soul…

May 2000
White Sky
Barry Divola, Who Weekly

“Worth a listen. This Melbourne singer-songwriter’s mix of folk and subtle electronics recalls Suzanne Vega and Beth Orton. Her mini-album is adorned with lilting melodies, spacious arrangements and Celtic influences. (available from chaosmusic.com)”

May 2000
White Sky
Jeff Jenkins, Inpress

“White Sky is an impressive debut offering. [Chloe’s] voice is sweet and assured and [the album] has a sound that has an electro undercurrent but is always warm… "

December 2007
White Street
Julian Bynoe, Outreach Connection (Canada)
"Hall's Folksy Potential"

Hailing from Melbourne, Australia, singer/songwriter Chloe Hall may be a newbie on these shores but has great potential for some commercial success for her third album White Street about life in general in a Catie Curtis manner, only minus any socio-political message on them.

On melancholy, simplicity and life journeys that strangely sound upbeat and beautiful, the material talks a lot about memory ("Take My Breath Away," "Without You"), love ("Fall For You") and regret ("How many roads") are brutally honest stuff working for her on the emotional level evenly.

Plenty of standout numbers include a classical solo piano job on "I'll Be Gone," "Stop the Merry-Go-Round" and titletrack, makes one anticipate more from Hall's contemporary outlook for a refreshing change of pace from ordinary folk music these days.

July 2006
White Street
Ian Dearden, Trad & Now

Melbourne's Chloe Hall has been plying her craft now for more than a dozen years, winning a songwriting award at the tender age of 14, and going on to study voice at Melbourne University's Conservatorium.
She has one previous full-length CD (White Sky) and one (self-titled) EP to her credit since 2000.

The new album, White Street (she clearly has something about the word "white" in album titles) has been produced by Greg Arnold (Things of Stone & Wood) and mastered by the legendary Don Bartley at Studio 301 in Sydney.
Needless to say, the CD's sound is great and reflects the professional input that has gone into it.
The songwriting (all 11 songs are originals from Chloe's pen) reflect the concerns of a twenty-something woman looking for love and an understanding of family, friendship and a place in a world which as many a gap between need, desire and fulfilment.
The arrangements are sparse and acoustic, with lashings of cello (Anita Quayle) and violin/viola (Louise McCarthy), beautifully layered over guitar and piano from Chloe, 6 and 12 string guitar, bass and organ from Greg Arnold and percussion from James Richmond.

This is a delightful album - Chloe's voice sometimes crystal clear like Sarah McLachlan, and sometimes breathy like Sandy Denny, but always communicating with emotion.
Chloe has talent by the bucketload, and this CD is living testament to that talent. Chloe is currently gigging all over Australia in support of the launch of this album, and you'd do well to catch this star on the rise, while you can.

June 2006
White Street
Anne Infante, The Folk Rag

Chloe Hall, who won her first songwriting award at age 14, is a fine new talent on a well-deserved fast track to success. White Street is her first full length CD and I found it a great listening pleasure.

Eleven original tracks range from thoughtful introspection to bright, bouncy 'feel-good' songs. Chloe's talent as a wordsmith is obvious from the first track. Her songs are beautifully crafted, her vocals strong and assured and delivered with sophistication and sensitivity for the lyrics. Her tunes are stylish and melodic, dipping and soaring in a manner reminiscent of Joni Mitchell; her underlining, compelling piano tracks enhance this impression - she also plays guitar.
Chloe is joined by Anita Quayle (cello), Louise McCarthy (violin, viola and backing vocals), Greg Arnold (6 & 12-string guitars, bass, hammond) and James Richmond (percussion). Chloe and friends have produced a beautiful and complimentary blend of sound.
Chloe Hall writes lovely insightful songs, singing them from her heart with class. This is a CD worth your attention.
Chloe is undertaking a national tour this year with James Hazelden (cello) - check out performance venues on: www.chloehall.com.au.

November 2005
White Street
Georgie Bryant, Meadiasearch.com.au

Melbourne artist Chloe Hall characterises the struggle so many acoustic artists face. Although this is her first album (after an EP release in 2002), she's been performing for a dozen years and has been winning performance and songwriting awards since the age of 14. On first impression, Chloe seems like a sweet voice, sprinkled with sweet lyrics about "dandelion wishes". But it's her maturity and experience that ultimately sets her folk/pop apart. 'White Street' exposes a vulnerable and thoughtful artist, whose voice wavers over a hushed piano on I'll Be Gone and candidly admits "Sometimes I wish I didn't have a dream to follow" on Amy. Citing an early love of Irish folk music as an influence, this is evident as Chloe draws uncanny moments of resemblance to Irish influenced American folk singer, Nanci Griffith. A polished acoustic album, produced by Greg Arnold of Things of Stone and Wood fame, Chloe has described 'White Street' as coming back to who she really is and it certainly shows.

January 2000
White Sky
Anthony Horan, Inpress

“First impressions can be deceptive. Though surrounded by extremely slick and professional packaging, this debut release by local singer and songwriter Chloe Hall looks dangerously like an album of late-night cocktail lounge jazz, complete with monochromatic minimalism and plentiful black feathers. It’s apparent within seconds of pressing play, though, that the music that lies within is a different proposition entirely.

A seven track mini-album, White Sky plays like a virtual handbook on how to approach a singer/songwriter record. Originally recorded by Drew Stansbury, the tracks here have been embellished and reworked by producer Jonathan Burnside, who’s been busily destroying speakers across the country with his work on Grinspoon’s current record. Don’t expect high-volume rock here, though – the lush audio that backs these songs is warm, evocative and spacious, in many cases electronically-driven, but with the technology used wisely, never distracting form the songs themselves. There are some familiar names playing here, too – Peter Luscombe on drums, George Servanis on drums and Michael Allen on bass among them – but there’s no show-off musicianship going on here. The strength of this record is in the songs, and all seven here are memorable.

Opening with an atmospheric title track that plays like an aural movie, the policy on White Sky is to throw in as many memorable melodies as possible, the terms of reference here leaning towards Sarah McLachlan’s early, darker work – Solace in particular – as well as Tori Amos’s recent journeys into technology. With the listener’s attention solidly grabbed by the opener’s rich visual canvas, Nothing to Lose adds kinetic rhythm to the mix, resulting in an instantly-memorable pop song that would be perfectly at home on radio. Under My Skin takes this pop sensibility along with the atmospherics of the opening track and adds the shimmer of widescreen keyboards and plentiful reverb, while gentle ballad Falling in Love Again keeps it simple and lets its chorus do the talking. And in case you were wondering what Chloe can do without the aid of lush production, Light and Shade’s vocal-only delivery will answer them. The jaunty loop-powered Jumping In is less successful than rest of the songs here, but that’s largely because it’s the only thing on the disc that sounds under-developed; the perfectly subtle closing track Bring it Home more than makes up for it.

While it’s not going to turn the heads of those who prefer their music confrontational, White Sky is an eye-opening record that oozes quality, particularly in the songwriting department. Some unusual mix decisions make this an occasionally unconventional listening experience in headphones, but regardless, this independent offering

Is of a far higher quality – both technically and artistically – than most of the major label offerings within this genre. It’s a record that deserves to be noticed, and with songs like this to do the talking, it undoubtedly will be.

May 2000
White Sky
Lauren Mooney, Beat Magazine

There is definitely no shortage when it comes to female artists plaguing the music industry at this point of time, but there is definitely a lack of talent. It is truly hard to come across a musician these days that doesn’t try to sweep the charts with their three hit singles just to fill up their pockets, only to disappear as quickly as they made their debut. And I must say what a shame it is that so much wasted talent sits on the sideline anticipating their turn.

Chloe Hall is definitely on of those people, proving that a truly talented artist is someone who is able to excel in all styles of music and whose music comes directly from the heart. She has a strength and serenity in her voice that seems to emit from deep within her soul, etching its way into your mind taking over your thoughts, brining forth hers.

The opening song which also happens to be the title of the album as well, has already received quite a bit of air play on stations such as Triple R, PBS, Triple J and Radio National. It is the perfect opening to this seven track album as it is both a haunting and gripping track both vocally and musically, and you do find yourself listening to it more than just once as it is quite an appealing song.

Nothing to Lose follows up next and Chloe’s choice to do this, I think, was a smart one. It has quite a happy-go-lucky tune and comes across almost as the exact opposite of White Sky. This helps to vive the listener some idea of Chloe’s potential.

Another track worth the mention is Light and Shade which lets Chloe demonstrate her true vocal ability and I must say how great this woman sounds without the use of instruments. It is an achievement within itself to keep an audience interested using your voice alone, and Chloe is able to do just that!

With the help of some of Melbourne’s talented musicians and producer Drew Stansbury, Chloe Hall has managed to collaborate one very memorable album. Overall the CD makes for great listening all of the time. Whether it be early on a Sunday morning, or when you’re sitting down to have people over for drinks. That’s the brilliant thing about this album, it’s so diverse that it pleases all, yet stays within a certain yet likeable style. This may sound strange and hard to grasp, so I guess you’ll just have to take a listen for yourself.

May 2000
White Sky
Barry Divola, Who Weekly

May 2000
White Sky
Jeff Jenkins, Inpress

“Reach for the White Sky. We don’t care much for the photo on the cover of Chloe Hall’s mini album, White Sky. But the songs within are strong. We could trot out the usual Tori Amos comparisons, but that would be selling Chloe and the CD short. She has her own thing going on with a voice is sweet and assured and a sound that has an electro undercurrent but is always warm (thanks to some fine backing from Michael Allen, Peter Luscombe, George Servanis, Mal Pinkerton and Drew Stansbury). White Sky is an impressive debut offering. Chloe is playing at The Contental tonight (Wednesday) with special guests Michael Allen and Richard Gillard”