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Writer's pictureShenead Poroosotum

First Listen: Chloe Bodur

Chloe Bodur is a woman who knows exactly what she wants. Whether it be through the music she produces, the lyrics she writes or the stunning visuals she creates with a nostalgic disposition. Chloe tends to weave her musical identity through elements of love, relationships and for her latest single, freedom. 'Static Flow' was released in collaboration with cousin and producer JD. Reid, following an exploration into being your true self alongside her having contrasting personalities that clash with one another. 'Static Flow' is a lullaby about euphoric liberation.


Hailing from North-West London, Chloe Bodur draws inspiration from her colourful Sri-Lankan and Turkish background with her musical influences enriched by the likes of D'Angelo, Flying Lotus and The Neptunes to classic icons such as Anita Baker, as well as drawing from sounds of the 90s and early 00s. Whilst striving to inspire a new generation of artists, Chloe Bodur takes pride in her heritage and spirituality as she cites the Hindu Goddesses ‘The 10 Mahavidyas’ as a spiritual muse. From releasing a handful of singles throughout the last couple of years, Chloe enjoys to touch into a handful of genres such as jazz, soul and hip-hop, which are evidently adorned throughout her discography.


Resurrecting First Listens, we have Chloe Bodur.


'Static Flow' Chloe Bodur ft. JD. Reid

First Watch

Chloe sits in the back seat of a convertible on a wet evening, wind blowing through her hair and cruises through North-West London for the visuals for this track, I mean, haven't we all wanted to do that at some point? With glowing purple and red tones, bouncing off her as she sways to the beat of the track, the visuals exhibit the feeling of indulging into being free. As she passes a small funfair embellished with luminous coloured lights, the video as a whole evokes a serene atmosphere and has that moment of relief in the beginning as she removes a bunny-head shaped balaclava, symbolising her removing a mask so she can be her most authentic self.


First Listen

Chloe croons beautifully on this track which combines elements of R&B and soul. With the production by JD. Reid, he does a stellar job in taking Chloe's signature sound into consideration to effortlessly producing a track that romanticises freedom. As she battles with conflicting personalities within herself like in the line "I have existed 20 times," she also repeats the word 'in-between' which only reinforces the opposing identities within herself. With the song having been written with a relatable background story, she efficiently verbalises a feeling we've all felt before, through an abundance of poetic metaphors.


Artist's Perception

“The main hook in Static Flow is "Take what you want from me, I'll take what's left" which sums up the overall message of the track. It's about 'code-switching' and changing yourself so much to appease other people that when you're left alone you feel like you don't know who you really are. I feel like there's so many different sides to my personality and so many versions of myself that exist and that different people in my life know different me's but that hardly anyone knows me fully. Sometimes these different versions of myself contradict one another and create a weird battle in my head. I wrote this at a time when I'd confronted someone in my life about their bad behavior - the bold side of me did that. But then I felt anxious about the consequences of that confrontation for weeks - and that was the more sensitive side of me doing that. The title 'Static Flow' and various other lyrics like "I'm a giant, I am shy..." etc were written to represent these contradictions and the inner conflict that these different sides of me cause. I tried to represent this idea of having multiple personalities with the different images of me in the artwork. This song was produced by my cousin JD. Reid. We made it in his Mum's house because it feels like home to both of us and it's where we tend to create our best work together.


“For this video I really wanted to capture a sense of freedom and the ability to be ones complete, authentic self without fear of judgement or scrutiny. At the beginning of the video I take off a mask and as the song develops I continue to peel back layers until I free myself into euphoria. We’re so heavily monitored these days with cameras in our face 24/7 and a need to keep up appearances daily that it can be hard to just let go. To be present and be free. For me I’ve always felt a real sense of relief when after a long day at work (or school or wherever you can’t be your full, real self) you get in the car, put your favourite music on as you drive home - and you just exhale. I wanted to take that feeling and push it into a dreamscape.


For this we drove around the streets where I grew up in Cricklewood (NW London) where I used to look out of the car window, listen to music and pretend I was in a music video. I can’t believe that’s real now!”


Overall

'Static Flow' is a track that encapsulates the idea of feeling euphoric, nostalgic and unrestricted. It's also an ode to anyone who feels like they might be having imposter syndrome when it comes to trying to please others to try and fit in. Chloe lets us know its okay to just let loose and be true yourself, which is always your best self.


Chloe Bodur's EP MAVI is out on the 10th of November.

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