Reviews|

September 2007
House Concert, Victoria BC CANADA
Mike Devlin, Times Colonist

"The intimacy of a house concert is the perfect environment for Chloe Hall"

August 2007
Artspace, Prince George BC CANADA
Review by Teresa Mallam, Prince George Free Press

"Nothing prepared me for [Chloe's] stellar live performance. Hall has a free range voice, full of expression and her unique song stylings are truly little gems. She’s also a gifted song writer. I listened to every word of her original lyrics which are playfully witty, wonderfully wise or painfully true."

June 2006
Comment by Christie Eliezer, themusic.com.au

"Contemporary folk singer/songwriter Chloe Hall has been on the road touring "White Street" (out on Shock Records) since early June 2006. She's crossed over the street press and community radio to ABC Radio and the mainstream papers. The new Susie Porter/Wendy Hughes film "The Caterpillar Wish" includes Chloe's song "All Or Nothing" on the soundtrack."

May 2006
North by Northwest, Gladesville NSW
Review by John Warner, Folk Federation of NSW (jam.org.au)

"As a singer she is radiant, being one of those people who draws the audience into the mood she creates... Her recording reveals her as a talented multi-instrumentalist, but the complex simplicity of the North By Northwest performance was all this writer needed to develop a profound respect for Chloe Hall"

September 2007
Performance: The Dancing Bean, Chemainus BC CANADA
Review by Mike Devlin, Times Colonist
September 8, 2007

Critic's Pick

The intimacy of a house concert is the perfect environment for Chloe Hall. The Australian singer-songwriter writes superb, moving folk songs, and sings with a lilt that recalls British folk favourite Kate Rusby.

On her debut trip to Canada, Chloe has been making friends and fans in BC... Now it's Alberta's turn.

August 2007
Performance: Artspace, Prince George BC CANADA
Review by Teresa Mallam, Prince George Free Press
August 31, 2007

Hall has power

Every once in a while you attend a concert that has you wondering why you’ve never heard much about the artist on stage because they sound so good. That’s how it was for me with Melbourne-based singer Chloe Hall when she graced Artspace last week.

I'd heard snippets of her acoustic guitar music on the web and played a few tracks from her publicity package touring album, White Street - one of the percs of covering arts and ertainmentent.

However, nothing prepared me for her stellar live performance. Hall has a free range voice, full of expression and her unique song stylings are truly little gems. She’s also a gifted song writer. I listened to every word of her original lyrics which are playfully witty, wonderfully wise or painfully true.

That kind of honesty in words can be disarming, but Hall has a way of smiling sweetly while she plays guitar and sings that makes you feel - even if the song is sad - that it’s going to be all right.

She sang songs from White Street including the meloncholy-laced title track inspired by her memory tour of her late grandmother’s house, “It’s all alive in me, beautiful memories...if these walls could talk, they’d tell a lifetime of you.” Beautiful. The singer songwriter shared a few brand new “hot off the press” ones too, penned during her recent road trip from Vancouver to Prince Rupert en route to Prince George.

“Back home [Australia] I have a reputation for love songs,” she began. “So I decided to write a song about being single.” Then came Shipwreck, a song with ‘I’ve been there’ lyrics. She was accompanied by cellist James Hazeldon who dazzled with his own musical talent. He plays with deep passion, often with closed eyes, swaying his body and tilting his head towards the cello, as if feeling every note.

Yet, when the song is over, he perks up and engages the audience with humor, like his running commentary about traveling in small vehicle with two female artists (Hall and Anita George) all their things and instruments.

“We’re doing 33 gigs in three months here in Canada and with so little space I could only bring along two shirts,” he joked. “Only the good gigs get this shirt - this is the best one.”

In another aside, he told the crowd about staying with Wells musician Yael Wand. "She has great shampoo," he said, stroking his hair."

Then just as easily, the musician eased into a One Foot on the Wire, a song about life being a juggling act where one hand smothers the fire, the other hand fans the flames. Both musicians had funny anecdotes about their trip to British Columbia and making new friends. Most of all, Hall likes the mountains, she said.

Hall and Hazeldon perform in wonderful harmony with a mixed bag genre of folk, rootsy, blues that is mostly easy listening kind of music.

Are We There Yet? was a real hit with the Artspace audience, maybe because it’s easy to relate to a song about “good intentions and bad directions” and long road trips which end happily when you get back home. How Many Roads about ways people fulfill themselves and All or Nothing were two more top picks of the night. The pair were joined for some songs by fellow Australian Anita George which just added to the magic on stage.

May 2006
Performance: North by Northwest, Gladesville NSW
Review by John Warner, Folk Federation of NSW (jam.org.au), May 3 2006

This writer is usually fairly unimpressed by singer songwriters exhibiting their personal emotions and relational upheavals. Chloe Hall was able to powerfully impress this aging cynic.

The combination of cello and guitar is interesting by definition and James Hazelden is an expressive player who also has a highly acceptable touch with vocal harmony, so the odds are already in Chloe's favour on this point for a start.

Her first chords on the guitar were attention grabbers for a fan of alternative tunings, being edgy 4ths and 5ths rather than the usual run of gloomy jazz chords, and the cello underlined the moods elegantly.

As a singer she is radiant, being one of those people who draws the audience into the mood she creates. Hers is an intimate performance into which even aging cynics can relax. Her singing has an effortless wide range. Anybody who can sing at the top end of their range in a near whisper is a respectable performer and Chloe Hall uses the full width of the expressive spectrum - as I said - effortlessly.

Her poetry and writing have both complexity and almost ridiculous simplicity. “Fallen angel boy” is a chorus for the illiterate with a far more complex use of images in the verses.

Her recording reveals her as a talented multi-instrumentalist, but the complex simplicity of the North By Northwest performance was all this writer needed to develop a profound respect for Chloe Hall.

Here is no Joni Mitchell clone, but a mature, emotional and technically accomplished musician with a lot to say and all the resources to say it. Take any chance that's on offer to hear her.