In the run up to supporting Ellie Goulding on her European tour, 18-year-old Chloe Howl took to the stage of three small venues across England to play a few little warm up gigs.
The third and final venue on this mini tour was the legendary Joiners in Southampton. This venue has become one of the most renowned small venues in the country after hosting an array of world’s most successful acts, including: the Arctic Monkeys, Coldplay, and even Green Day.
The night was opened by Southampton based R&B duo 13th Floor, made up of singer Tom Hansford and producer Tyler Comley. Their music carried a definite and consistent R&B sound, however the tracks did sound a little samey.
Next to take the stage was singer/songwriter Matthew Reynolds, who performs under the name ‘Big Fin’. With only his voice and his acoustic guitar, Big Fin delivered a number of emotive acoustic/folk tracks that managed to silence the room – definitely worth a listen.
On to the main event then as Chloe Howl’s band entered the stage and began to play some backing music in anticipation of her arrival. She made her way to the stage through the crowd, which added a little more to the already intimate feel in the room.
Her set began with a few new tracks, all of which had a very strong yet unique pop sound – the sort of songs you could imagine hearing on the radio. A standout track from these was ‘Drop in the Ocean’. Chloe gave a great performance, with good stage presence and solid vocals throughout.
The show drew to a close after she had played ‘Paper Heart’ and ‘No Strings’; her biggest tracks so far. From the sounds of the new material though, there will be plenty more big tracks to come on the album.
Both BBC Radio 1 and iTunes have tipped Chloe to be a breakthrough act in 2014 and after seeing what she had to offer at a live performance I can totally understand why.
Check out Chloe’s ‘Paper Heart’ below:
Chlöe Howl – Paper Heart on MUZU.TV.
Enjoy this article? Then why not sign up to Fortitude Magazine’s Weekly Round Up! Our pick of the week’s best news, reviews, videos and music straight to your inbox. Click here to sign up today!