Chloe Qisha: Fantasize album review – Pop princess in waiting
This debut album serves up glossy, sex-fuelled pop
Mainstream pop is no longer bolstered by genericism or mass appeal (that was left behind in the 2010s). Instead, we’ve allowed for authenticity to lead and uniqueness to be celebrated. This is the fertile ground on which young up and comers now stand, and Malaysia-born, London-based Chloe Qisha is one such artist. Her breakthrough single ‘21st Century Cool Girl’ is a scannable tale of a Gen Z femme fatale. From speaking in hyperbole to feeling sexually promiscuous yet tragically insecure, she packages relatable notions of womanhood in a glossy, high-production banger. Qisha follows this creative route in her debut collection Fantasize, the central thesis of which is red-hot yearning.
With its opening track ‘YDH’ (young, dumb and horny), she introduces the album like an erotic fairytale (‘once there was a girl who had a very sexy dream/The kind that’s rated R’). Track two, ‘Question Of The Day’, repackages this even more directly, with lines such as ‘are we gonna (uh) or not?’ and ‘do me on the countertop’ not leaving much to the imagination; sonically the tune is expertly produced (this can be said for all of Fantasize), seamlessly blending electronic, psychedelic and disco influences into one unctuous pop soundscape, not unlike that of Dua Lipa’s Radical Optimism.
‘He Likes Boys’ reveals a more vulnerable side to Qisha, as she laments an unrequited love over Abba-like synths and hammering piano. ‘So Sad So Hot’ is a classic ‘crying on the dancefloor’ bop and the title track features a Roan-esque ‘Hot To Go’ spelling-out of the album’s title. While the record is well written and performed, in the pursuit of packing in so many influences and ideas, Qisha’s point of view occasionally gets lost in the sauce. If individuality is king in mainstream music today, this pop princess is still figuring out her future reign.
Chloe Qisha: Fantasize is released by Columbia Records on Friday 30 October.