ALBUM REVIEW: CHLOE CHADWICK - MIDNIGHT ROUNDS

For quite some time our abiding memory of Chloe Chadwick was a storming set at Buckle & Boots, one of the best the festival had ever seen. Then for a while she then seemed to disappear, until 2023 when a run of singles signalled a creative resurgence which arguable reaches its pinnacle with the new album "Midnight Rounds". The cover is slightly bizarre, made to look aged, with fake creases, with the word MIDNIGHT in a huge font compared to the teeny tiny. Rounds. There's a picture an of old time bar over which a picture of Chloe has been pasted - it's quite unusual. Enough of the wrapping though, it is the contents that intrigue most. The expression wearing your heart on your sleeve is well worn, with Chloe Chadwick there are no filters, it is all or nothing and at times it does feel a little that we as the listener are intruding where maybe we shouldn't be.

It is only the sheer craftswomanship in Chloe's song writing and performing, along with the production talents of the Bishop brothers ( Matt & Tom) that prevent this album from being a somewhat bleak affair. It is in fact a thoughtful collection, at times sounding positively upbeat, but peer through the microscopically small lyrics in the CD booklet and you are never far away from different shades of blue.

Chloe opens the album with "County Lines" which you might think would be Chloe's take on the current scourge affecting disaffected youngsters, getting sucked into a world of drugs and violence. As the tracks opens to the sound of news footage, it turns out it is exactly that, a solitary guitar sound almost sets the scene for a Western shoot out, while the news reel spells out exactly what "County Lines" are. Lyrically as well Chloe takes on the subject in all seriousness and we at #TEAMw21 salute her for it.

"Everything's black and white running County Lines

Kids ride or die, selling highs just to get by

Making their way through the night to Suburban skies

Leave their city lights behind to stay alive"

It pulls few punches and paints a grim urban picture

"Filled with drugs and petty crime

There's nothing left of these once thriving streets

Just boarded homes, graffiti dreams

But no-one gives a damn, if it's not breaking news"

It's all set to a somewhat jaunty tune however even that develops some edgy guitar work along with Chloe's additional backing vocals. It's as stunning an opener to a UK Americana as you could ever wish to here. It is not buried away as a filler track written by someone who has read a Daily Mail headline, it is done from a position of knowledge by someone who has read up on the subject. It's position as opening song on the record would suggest that it is something that Chloe truly feels strongly about.

"Whiskey Strong" starts in swathes in guitars, with a thumping back beat - it's not Oasis, it is Chloe confounding expectations once more with a song displaying triumph over adversity

"It ain’t easy,

Sometimes we put a finger on the trigger, life gets messed up

And we find ourselves stuck in the middle of a situation that pulls us deeper down

But you stood your ground"

Chloe has been quite open in her work about her "darker time", this however finds the positive in taking action to get back on the straight and narrow. It even manages to wear it's Americana connections with a George Strait reference.

"Whisky strong

Oh the mind ain’t simple, ain’t steady like a George Strait song

You’ve been standing in darkness, screaming ‘til the lights came on

Broke down those walls, you stood tall

And you found somebody, a place you call home

And together (together), You’re whisky strong"

With a bridge declaring

"We're sometimes just in the wrong place at the wrong time

And sometimes we barely make it out alive

But we do what we do to survive, and hold our heads high"

this is clearly heartfelt material.

"Shoot To Run" opens in strident fashion with prominent guitars, some pure pop Americana guitar work, with lyrics packed with imagery of escaping to a new life

"Grab a horse saddle up, and take a ride with me

To the western world where the daring rebels meet

Claiming rights to barren lands and southern plains

Shooting arrows & guns to the heart of the enemy"

The chorus is a delight with Chloe letting her vocals roll over the melody

"With the cowboys and Indians we go

Riding through Arizona canyons to New Mexico

Grab a hat, boots strapped, painted lines on their face

With their sun drenched skin in search of the promised lands"

The mood slows with the piano intro into "Reuben", as if to calm us after the previous tracks exertions. Once our attention has been gained the track opens out musically, with guitars and strings. Chloe as mentioned is unflinchingly open and honest in her lyrics and this is one of those songs.

"Reuben what you been doing?

I'm calling out your name

Nothing is the same without you

Reuben, you're skipping school again

Are you somewhere in between her and me

I don't know what's in your heart

Please forgive me for playing my part"

The chorus fills out more of the missing information

"Our blood is not the same

But your love flows through my veins

You're still my son, still my son, you're still mine..."

It's a message being sent out and maybe this is a companion track to the albums opener, it is undoubtedly it is a compelling if at times slightly uneasy listen.

One of the singles that heralded Chloe's revival was "Temper Gene", the cover of which saw Chloe enveloped in a red mist.

"I wasn’t looking for a war

I just wanted peace

I wasn’t searching for someone

but I found crazy

I never saw it coming

I failed to see the warnings

I tried to hide behind those forgiving eyes"

The opening verse of the song is just Chloe singing to an acoustic guitar. Musically things pick up with the chorus which blends quite soulful sounding delivery and backing, paired with some quite stark uncompromising lyrics.

"You got a temper gene

Operate like a mean machine

You turn into a psycho

Then round and round we go"

The second verse makes things even clearer - the word "toxicity" is all but screamed in celebration of becoming free. To a degree the music, good as it is, is almost secondary, this is a cathartic release that needs to be aired.

"You knew just how to push my buttons

You were the master of puppets

Manipulated every conversation we ever had, before it ended bad

I always tried to hide it

When questioned I denied it

But I couldn’t fight it anymore

So I got out of this toxicity"

The key moment in the recovery comes in the bridge - knowing that ties must be totally cut.

"I sacrificed you to set me free

Now all that's left is a poisoned memory

It made me stronger, and through it all

I found the better me

I'm happy"

There's an upbeat funky country opening to "214" which musically lightens the mood, as Chloe reminisces about good times to be had there! Complete with a bar room piano solo and cheering party crowd, it breaks things up nicely.

Inspiration for "Your Fire" is quite personal as Chloe trawls through her personal love life both good and bad, from its initial infancy, through to the most recent liaison

The earliest memories come in the first verse, accompanied by light percussion and jangly guitars, Chloe captures the exuberance of youth, when everything is ahead of you and the possibilities are endless, with only the last line hinting at clouds on the horizon

"When I was young I thought love was a bottomless well

Flipped a coin, heads or tails will it be heaven or hell

My favourite drug, I was hooked on love in a spell

The nights were filled with passion & our innocent bodies were craving romance like we were fed up of parties

Yeah we had everything to live for, then my heart fell to pieces on the floor".

The lead up to the chorus sees the song totally change in tone, the overall sound gets punchy with the drums adding bite and Chloe's backing vocals adding to the overall atmosphere

"I’ve been chewed up, messed around, like I was the joker in my hometown"

The chorus itself sees Chloe bring things forward to now, delivering her self assured vocals with a passion, over a powerful Americana country tune welded to a copper bottomed pure pop chorus. The guitars are now much more forthright and the percussion powerful.

"I thought I was done, with love, I couldn’t face another heart-break song

But then you came along with the first day of spring and like a burning desire, you lit me up with your fire"

The title of the tune is "Your Fire" and it is Chloe acknowledging that this new enthusiasm, this zest for life has reinvigorated her in all ways!.

"Midnight Rounds" the title track, is as joyful a countryish tune as it is depressing and dramatic a lyric, as it finds Chloe indulging in late night drinking, while in a relationship that seems to be teetering on the edge if indeed it hasn't already teetered

There are some nice songwriter touches as the references between drink and relationship blur and are interchangeable

"I pour a drink

Love is on the rocks again

And booze seems to be my only friend

i wish you'd give it to me straight

But instead you walk away

Every time we bend and break

Yet somehow the tears seem to pour out

When you're not here, I still want you near"

The word "near" is elongated for some seconds and sung with a powerful force.

The chorus is one of the stand out musical moments of the record, sung with gusto and with the production giving her full support.

"I'm drinking midnight rounds

Chasing the blues

Straight out of this town

Cos I don't wanna feel this way

No more

I'm not keeping score

I'm drinking midnight rounds"

The next verse is even more frank and things come to a head in the bridge where once more cards are placed openly down on the table.

"I don't wanna wait til' we're older

When the damage has been done

Have we left it too late?

Have we said all we can say?

I just wanna drown out my sorrows

If there's no more tomorrows with you

I need to know"

It painfully pulls together a lot of the themes running through the album, commitment, doubt and all the emotions and feelings that come with them. This builds to something of an epic production with Chloe's vocals sailing the sonic surf.

"Rattling Bones" is another quite brutally honest song, it has the lowest of lows in terms of relationship suffering, yet by the end it manages to transform into something more uplifting as Chloe reclaims herself.

The opening is a sort of chugging acoustic strum while in the background there is an eerie haunting guitar sound mixed in with some synth sound building an ominous atmosphere. Chloe's opening salvo when it arrives is quite dark, the second line is literally a plea for help and there is an air of someone who has realised the desperateness of the plight they are in

"Aching bones makes me quiver,

 Oh lord get me outta this hellhole.

 Things I forgave now make me shiver,

 I’m forever haunted by these chains"

The picture painted of constantly being abused and the damage it does, are laid bare. The pace of the tune picks up as Chloe reaches breaking point.

"These sticks and stones are breaking my bones,

 I’ve cried, I’ve tried to block you outta my mind and I,

 Just wanna be at peace with me"

The chorus sees Chloe deliver a quite measured vocal - the lyrics could easily be spat out with a degree of venom

"Don’t wanna love you like I do,

 but when you take my heart it breaks in two.

 Even though you know what you do,

 I always find myself right back beside you.

 Cus I’m the only fool and your so cruel."

The second verse eventually sees the start of the fight back

"Next day unfolds, revealing evidence,

 for the list of lies you’ve told,

 I’ve been victim of your games and a choke in your hold,

 no more"

The final chorus sees the transformation with Chloe once more taking control - it also sees the song come to a sudden end.

"You don’t own my heart, I’m done we’re through.

 I’m taking back the last ounce of confidence.

 I have left. This is the consequence, of treating me so cruel.

 Now look who’s the fool."

A shiny new 2026 remix of "Soulmate" opens with a solid back beat and a prominent lead guitar and is very much a song of 2 halves - the before and after meeting your "Soulmate". Lyrically the opening verse may not be uplifting but as the saying goes the darkest hour comes before the dawn and they paint a picture of someone in despair, questioning where they are and where they are going and not necessarily liking the answers

"I was feeling the pressures, I was getting older

My thoughts ran colder, everyday running away from myself

Getting carried away with my health

It just wasn’t me - I was slipping further away"

Contrast that with the feelings of elation felt when you find your "soulmate"

"But in the darkness, she rescued me like a breath of fresh air, she helped me to see

All the wonders, I see through her eyes, she gives me the strength to succeed"

The chorus is testament to the wonders of unbridled joy - where Chloe's vocals soften, taking on a dream like quality as she revels in her current situation.

"And she’s all mine - she’s all I ever wanted, all I ever needed

She’s all mine - she’s all I ever wanted, never knew I needed"

The album closes with "Deadly Serious" which is a curious little number as for the listener it feels like eavesdropping on someone else's conversation and as the title suggests it's not a chat about the weekend shopping. The opening couplet voices frustration, it's made all the more powerful by being delivered over just Chloe's clipped electric guitar

"You like walking the wire, with your head up in the clouds

I've been patiently waiting, when are you going to come down?

"One day we're talking about kids and wedding rings

Next thing you say you're not ready for anything

I can't keep waiting for you to decide

If you want me forever"

The chorus has a soulful pop feel to it, the lyrics though remain intensely personal

"I wish that you'd just make your mind up and stop this hurting

It's taken twenty years to find love, let's stop talking in riddles

I know where my heart is at, but you can't make head nor tails of that

I wish that you'd just make your mind up

Cos I'm deadly serious"

There is a key admission from Chloe in the bridge which is powerfully sung

"I don't want nobody else to love me

If I can't make it with you

I don't want anybody

No one to replace those

Decisions you were too scared to make"

The guitar solo that follows this frank admission give us a delightful musical pause to catch our breath before Chloe and her backing build to one final crescendo.

"You're my everything

I wish you'd just make your mind up

Cos I'm deadly serious - I'm deadly serious"

If this were a TV soap then it would probably conclude with the Eastender's drum roll, as we are left on something of a cliffhanger.

"Midnight Rounds" is pretty much Chloe Chadwick laying herself and her feelings of the last twenty years open for the world to see and scrutinise. You'll feel her joy, you'll share her pain. It is full of musicality and displays the skills of someone who knows the intricacies of the art of songwriting. It is however not always a smooth journey and listeners should buckle up and at times prepare for a bumpy ride.