Chloe Charles - Break The Balance (2014) [Hi-Res]

A mere two years ago, a young Canadian singer-songwriter and self-taught classical guitarist released her debut EP, Little Green Bud. A fitting title, too, as it set the tone for a fully blossoming career that s about to go off the scales with the release of Chloe Charles first full-length CD, Break The Balance. Since Little Green Bud, music critics and fans alike have been scurrying to put into words what it is that Chloe does. She s that spellbindingly different. The press have likened Chloe to everyone from Björk to Billie Holiday, Amy Winehouse to Adele, Alicia Keys to Joni Mitchell. While this reflects her unfathomable range, it goes a long way towards describing why this singing sorceress musical magic defies any and all straitjackets of classification. Her discovery of classical guitar just a few short years ago fuelled a love for all things stringed and resonant, plotting a roadmap for a territory inhabited by cello, violin and bass each song a mini-symphonic stopping point. Here, her penchant for orchestral soul pop and jazz and a blend of many influences in-between could happily co-exist within a timeless and ethereal soundscape.

The first few tunes from this 28-year-old suggest an averagely quirky singersongwriter with a streak of Tori Amos and a way with a pop hook. But by track four, My Child a distant cousin to Billie Holiday s God Bless The Child it s clear she has something individual to say and the craft to say it. Refrain From Fire is similarly potent as violin and cello back Charles s buttery vocals and classical guitar. She veers between deep and ditzy, sometimes in the same song, as on God Is A Toad. Of mixed race her black father became Cynthia Lennon s fourth husband the sleeve pictures her with face half blacked-up, and an identity crisis is the theme of poppiest track, Business. Oddball, spooky, charming, she's quite a cocktail. FOUR STARS --Mojo