Canadian singer-songwriter Chloe Stroll had a story to tell and made sure to not hold herself back in any way. In fact, Stroll had so much to share that she wrote 70 songs, posing a challenge to narrow it down to only 12 tracks for her album.
Bloom in the Break, Stroll’s debut album, is centered around emotional honesty and vulnerable storytelling and avoids cutting any corners. Stroll is a storyteller who doesn’t box herself in, sonically or lyrically. She doesn’t fear venturing out if that’s where her story takes her, making her debut album an all-encompassing representation of several experiences one faces over a lifetime. From fear to love, Stroll addresses it all with passionate, soulful vocals that are purposefully presented in each track.
In an interview with Melodic Magazine, Stroll speaks on the experiences that inspired some of her album’s tracks, where the album’s title came from and how it took shape, finding her musical spark again and how her songwriting has evolved since she was 14.
You released a debut album, which is huge — that’s awesome. Congratulations on that! How has it felt to have shared such a big project with the world and what has the audience reaction been like?
Stroll: Well, releasing it was terrifying and exhilarating and almost like, just a weight off my shoulders. I was just so happy that it was out there and I think, you know, it was scary because it was so vulnerable and there was so much, you know, it was all of me in it. But the reaction has been even better than I anticipated. I think the way that people have come to me and how much they’ve really listened and dug into the album has been overwhelming in the best way. I could not have dreamt for a better reaction than what has been happening.
Before you released this album, your discography was filled with singles. Now that you’ve experienced releasing an album, how does it compare to releasing a single?
I think there’s so many similarities because for me, all of my songs I’ve written have really come from a personal place. I think with the album, it was more like the singles are part of that story. They’re not just like left-field songs that I was like, “Oh, this would be fun to release tomorrow.” Everything was kind of sought out and there was a North Star in mind.
I think the album was just like “let’s really narrow down what I want to say. Let’s make sure that everything’s a bit more cohesive” and I’m telling the story I want to tell. But I think that the singles just add different layers to it. I’m reading a lot right now, so it’s like you might have the first 3 books that are the best or like the biggest section of it and then you’ve got novellas around and I feel like all the other singles relate to it in some way or another. So kind of similar.
I really like the title, Bloom in the Break, which is already a powerful statement in itself. How does this title best represent all 12 tracks and where did it come from?
So when I was thinking about the title, I really had my North Star of what I wanted to say and what I wanted the message to be [which] was that you’re not alone. And I found that for me in my best moments, my worst moments, my happiest, my sad, music’s just been there. I felt like, and I still feel this way, that I can lean on music to help me if I’m sad and perk me back up, you know, I’ll put on a really fun song. If I want to wallow in my sadness, I’m going to put on a sad song.
So with Bloom in the Break, I wanted it to really feel like you’re not alone. The struggles that you’re going through, there’s someone who hears you because it is lonely going through whatever you’re dealing with at the moment and all of us have our own lives and our own things, but I have felt that kind of loneliness before. So I really wanted Bloom in the Break, which is also why the title came to be, [to be] like you’re not alone, we’re here, there are people who hear you and who feel what you’re feeling.
I think that we forget as humans that there’s such a pressure to be perfect, which really, what does that mean and perfect to whom? Because everyone has a different definition and really what makes us beautiful are the experiences, the things that maybe leave a scar behind, that aren’t great to go through, but they build you and what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. I kept having this image while gathering all the songs together and writing the last few that needed to fill the gaps of just this flower. Peonies are my favorite, so I pictured a peony blooming through broken glass and it doesn’t make it any less beautiful. In fact, it makes it so unique and so cool. And Bloom in the Break was born.
The first track on Bloom in the Break is “Hurricane,” which describes loyalty amongst chaos, being there for someone even if that means enduring a hurricane. Why did you decide to start your album with this theme?
Firstly, and like you see it through the album, is I love writing about water as a symbol or a theme. And I found that in a funny way, “Hurricane” set a good tone where the message is really deep, if that’s the way that you need to relate to it. And for me, it was really deep when I was writing it, but I still think that it’s fun and bouncy and not heavy. And I didn’t want to start the album heavy, which I could have done, but I felt like it was a breath of fresh air in a way to start it that way. I thought that the first notes and that the message, it was hopeful and it was, you know, “I got you. I’m here and I’ll find you in a hurricane.” And you could take it that way with the music or you could really look at it in a much deeper way if you wanted to.
I read that you wrote more than 70 songs but only 12 of them made it on the record, 6 of which were already released singles. How did you go about deciding which ones deserved a spot and was it a difficult process for you?
It was definitely difficult. I think fitting in songs was difficult. I think that I kept trying to come back to the message of what I was saying, which is you’re not alone. We feel your struggle, even if it’s something that I can’t relate to, I feel you, I hear you and we got you. There’s people out there who understand you. And so I kept coming back to that North Star of like this is what I want to say. You know, I think in my songwriting, I love storytelling. So I think that there were some stories that just didn’t really make sense at that stage or to be on the album, and there’s some stories that fit perfectly. And with all the songs, it was really about going back through and reading the lyrics, remembering what they related to and whether or not they just fit with what I wanted to say.
So kind of circling back to how half of these tracks on the album were already released as singles, did you have the album in mind when you were releasing these singles, starting with “Run,” or was there a certain point where you thought, “oh, I want to compile these songs on an album”?
Honestly, when I was releasing singles, I didn’t have a clear vision of the album yet. I think that it was really about wanting to write as many songs as I could and really express just different things. I am just a vulnerable person I guess when I’m writing and I really look at it as, like, “Okay what have I experienced in my life? Could someone else relate?”
You know, like “You’re Okay” is a prime example of that. I think somehow we’ve all experienced loss, whether it’s someone really close to you, whether it’s a dog, however you have experienced that. And that doesn’t mean that they’ve necessarily passed on, but I felt like no matter what in your life, you will be able to relate to it. Maybe not exactly in my way, my way is about my grandmother, or maybe even like your grandmother, but I mean you can relate it to someone else.
And that’s kind of how I go about songwriting. It’s taking whatever I’ve experienced, zooming out a little bit, and taking the emotion from it instead. So looking at a song like, “Run,” it was similar, it was my experience of a home invasion, but that doesn’t mean that you’ve experienced a home invasion, so a lot of people wrote to me being like, “Oh my god, I felt this about my relationship or my friendship.” And I was like, that’s so cool that what I imagined for it you took differently. So again it went back to what do I want to say in this album and what lyrics and melodies do I feel contribute to that the most?
Going off of how your listeners receive your music, what do you hope your listeners get out of this debut album with it being so powerfully vulnerable?
It’s almost like I hope they have a friend in there. I hope whatever they’re feeling, whether they’ve had the best day of their life at work or maybe it’s been a really tough day, and they just need to scream and remind themselves that they’re worth it, which I’m like go play “I Stood My Ground” and remember that you are worth it and you’re amazing. And whatever it is for them, I hope that they find a friend in each song.
I wanted to talk about the sound of each track because you kind of play around with a bunch of different sounds and genres. Why did you include a bunch of songs with different genres? And you also explored vocally, which I thought was really neat. Why did you decide to do that?
It wasn’t a decision that was like, “Oh, let’s do this.” I think it was so organic how it happened. And for each song and each background story, it just worked. And my plan was not necessarily to make an album with all these different sounds, but in the end, everything I’m saying about life, about stories, about what you experience, there is no clear path. There is no one way to do it. I think that in a way, having all these different sounds enabled me to do that as well and really just lay bare like “Here I am, and here’s what I got, and here’s what I can offer.” I felt like in a weird, funny way, it worked out that it was a bit like life.
I love how vulnerable all the tracks are and I read about how the song “Home” holds a special place in your heart. It also has an elegant music video to accompany it. What does this track mean to you and how did bringing such an emotionally strong concept to life impact you as a person and as an artist?
“Home,” I have goosebumps as I’m talking about it. “Home” is such a big track for me in so many ways. I think I’ve always been, and it’s kind of where the visualizer and the video came to be, is that I’ve always been a massive Disney lover and I grew up wearing the princess costumes around the house and I just always loved the stories of Prince Charming and people thought I was crazy and they were like “you take this way too seriously.” I never let anybody crush my dream with that and I always believed, I was like, “No, I will find my Prince Charming” and not to sound cheesy but obviously I found my husband and he is 100% my Prince Charming.
“Home,” I wrote it when I was 6 months pregnant, I finished recording it and we finished it when I was 8.5 months pregnant, and that was such a big moment for me because they are my home. A home doesn’t have to be a place, doesn’t have to be 4 walls, it doesn’t have to be a place that you walk in with a door. It can be a person and my home is my family.
So I took the concept of like, the very romantic little girl inside of me, which is how the video came to be, because it was such an ode to her and to the future that I’m building currently. And I think that was also why, when we were looking at doing the video, it was like, “Okay, maybe in your dreams you’re in this beautiful place in this ball gown and that’s where you feel in your head,” but I’ll feel the same when I’m sitting on my bed FaceTiming my husband and I feel the same walking around in my jeans and a T-shirt. It holds a very special place in my heart, because it makes my heart explode in the best way.
I want to talk about your artistic journey a little bit. You had a passion for music at a young age, but kind of put it on the back burner for a while as you went to college and got older, but when the pandemic hit, that’s when you got serious about singing and started pursuing it. Why did you decide that creating music was something that you wanted to do, and a part of yourself you kind of wanted to embrace?
So I have been singing since I was like 3 and I had the opportunity, and I pursued it a little bit when I was about 14, I had a record deal and I went for it, and then life happened and I pivoted. I went into business, I went to college, and I’m so glad that I did. One, because it’s also given me a whole different perspective on life and I write differently because of it. I make different music than I would have at 14. I’m a big believer that the universe gives you signs if you keep your mind open and it’s in your control and your ability, but keep your eyes open and listen to what’s around you.
And honestly, it was my parents. I was working in business, and I still do, but they were very much like, “Why haven’t you gone back to music?” and I remember just looking at them being like I didn’t know that was an option anymore. Like, has my time passed? Has it not? Did I make choices already? And they were both so encouraging of me, and so was my husband, who, at the time was my boyfriend, being like just go for it.
And what, 4 days later, the world started shutting down and I was like, “wow, okay, When are you ever going to be gifted this kind of time again where you feel like the world’s just going to pause?” And I reached out to my old singing coach and I’d always kept in touch with everyone, but you know, life happens and you do lose touch sometimes and I just felt like this is an opportunity that I can’t just let slip by. Obviously, COVID was a really horrible time for so many people, and it was really scary and with all the lockdowns and everything and there was a part of it where I felt the world just paused and I was like, take advantage of that and turn it into something worthwhile for you.
Looking back at that time of COVID when you started off, how have you seen growth in yourself as an artist? And how does this version of yourself compare to the one who was just starting out and getting the juices flowing in that time?
I’ve seen big growth in myself as an artist. I’m a lot more confident. I think it’s very scary, you know, to express yourself sometimes, and seeing slowly the reactions releasing single after single and just seeing how much people loved it and felt with it and their authentic reactions to it. It gave me the confidence to want to keep going and want to keep telling stories.
It’s been, what, 5 years now, 6 years going into the sixth year. So I think that it’s been amazing just to see how my voice has grown. My music has obviously changed and evolved and because I’ve experimented with sounds, there’s definitely songs that will not make the album, that will not see the light of day for me, because I was like, wow, that is not where I belong. I thought it was when I was 14, and it’s not today anymore. I learned a lot about myself as an artist, as a person, as a writer, and I’m grateful for it.
I have one final question for you, and that kind of goes off of what we’re talking about, looking towards the future. Now that you’ve released an album and written over 70 songs and shot several music videos, do you have an idea of the direction your artistry will take next, or any projects in the works?
I do. The projects, they’ll soon be in the works. I mean, I’ve started writing for the next one. I definitely know the direction I’m going in. I know where the wind is leading me and and I’m actually, I’m very excited. I think it’s going to be something really cool, maybe a little bit surprising for a couple people, but I’m really excited.
Keep up with Chloe Stroll: Website // Apple Music // Spotify // Instagram
