On this second record, Sir Chloe (the moniker of musician Dana Foote and also the name of her band) invite the listener into their twisted sweet-sour world with “The Hole,” a song that someone too heartsick to get out of bed would relate to, performed with vocals and music that are sincerely sweet and cheery!
Sir Chloe’s music takes inspiration from various genres such as grunge, punk, and folk, which are then blended together with Foote’s secret musical sauce: a tight band; Foote’s fabulously sharp vocals that know exactly when/how much to be dulcet, defiant, or deranged; and production that lends to the music a sound that is polished but tactfully coarse. These ingredients make a track like “The Hole” sound so upbeat and lively, yet have a palpable undercurrent of woefulness. Similarly, “Eyes,” another jangly gem where the music is brisk and bright, is also where Foote sings in the sweetest tone: “I believe I’ve finally died, on my knees for so many nights, prayed to no one, ‘take my life’,” in a lovely bittersweet contradiction.
The album has a pep in its step in how the music is played and recorded, and how the vocals are sung. So, even apart from the naturally perky numbers like “Complicated” and “Take It,” a quiet one like “Candy” with just a guitar and vocals, is like a calming fire that crackles often enough that you’ll pay attention, as you hear the bite in each guitar note played and the drama in Foote’s vocals.
The album also has a punctured heart and a lunatic brain that is evident on “Holy,” which has a headbanging rhythm with virtuoso drumming/cymbal-work and a post-punk goth rock production aesthetic, while Foote sings with fiery dispassion. “Kiss” too, has an “I am wounded and mad” rage with its grungy gloominess, where its meaty and mucky but catchy guitars are dark, while Foote sings words like “wanna be you when you say, I want it, it’s mine,” ending the song with “I don’t want love I want revenge” with an unhinged temperament.
Judging from how fine the album turned out, the band has harnessed this craziness—which is omnipresent here—to compliment their cerebral musicianship and singing, instead of mindlessly succumbing to its chaos.