Chloe hails from Australia, and Outside, her fourth album release, is targeted as the one that will break her through to audiences in Europe (where she’ll be touring during September). It takes what’s described as the 60s-70s singer-songwriter aesthetic of her third record (White Street), and marries it to an eminently approachable brand of new-millennium acoustica. That entails gentle and engaging (but at the same time highly assured) vocal work, pleasingly mature songwriting and appealing, carefully conceived small-ensemble arrangements.

The musical style I still find more often than not very redolent of the late-60s, and it’s undoubtedly more acoustic-pop than folk, but it doesn’t ever insult your intelligence, while Chloe’s songwriting makes a virtue of simple expression of undeniable truths, expressed with a graceful acceptance of adversity, and this charming simplicity is matched by a comparable quality in her melodic invention and in her vocal performance and delivery. It’s good that Chloe’s singing is refreshingly free of mannerisms (except perhaps for the pronounced aspirant on some tracks and an over-tremulous fragility on one or two songs eg Dance With Me).

The album’s highlights for me are the delectable uke-flecked Born In The Morning, the chiming opening title track and the bolder orchestrations of It’s Not Too Late and Nothing Really Matters (nice production by Greg Arnold). While admitting that not every one of the disc’s ten songs will necessarily score top marks for memorability or longevity, there are more than enough delightful experiences to encourage the listener on to make further discoveries.

Lest my words cause you to feel I’m damning with faint praise, I must say that subsequent playthroughs have revealed deeper pleasures beyond an initial impression of slightly lightweight. Chloe’s a generous free-spirited soul, and it actually proves very easy to warm to her music.

David Kidman, Sep 2009
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