Chloe Styler: Crafting authentic music and visuals in the modern country-pop landscape

When Gold Coast country-pop artist Chloe Styler released her debut single, ‘When Your Light Burns’, in 2018, I was so taken with it that I wrote a piece about it. That year Styler was a grand finalist in the 39th Annual Toyota Star Maker competition. She had already attended the Junior and Senior Academy of Country Music, so the trajectory to Star Maker was not surprising – the Academy is a professional development organisation with few peers in Australian music. So the quality of that first single shouldn’t have been a surprise but, still, it was impressive. What became noticeable as Styler released successive singles ‘Patient Heart’ and ‘Sweden’ was that the first wasn’t a fluke – and also that she was developing an aesthetic for her cover art. This aesthetic evolved as she continued to release singles and her EPs, Side A (2022) and Side B (2023). As did her songwriting: with the release of the single ‘Hometownless’ in 2023 she signified that she was prepared to explore a certain whimsy with language, and the aesthetic went in tandem with that. Why am I mentioning the aesthetic? Because it’s part of Styler’s artistry, and we have spoken before about her interest in costume (for stage) and clothes (for videos and photos) and how she is consciously developing that aesthetic, often with the help of her sister, Amy, who is her photographer and videographer. In an era where the visual branding of an artist is more important than ever, it is smart of her to pay attention to this and it works because it’s authentic to her. Styler has been awarded for her music,  taking home Breakout Artist of the Year at the 2024 Gold Coast Music Awards, and she is very much focused on developing as a songwriter and performer, spending time in Nashville for both. So I was interested to have a longer chat with her than usual, because she is intelligent and thoughtful and it was a good chance to delve deeper into her artistry. Therefore this is a ‘deep dive’ interview, the second I’ve done (the first was with Nathan Lamont), and Styler and I also spoke about her latest single, ‘Love in a Bubble’. I’m fascinated to see where she goes next in her music and her life – the progression has been so strong till now, and she has put everything in place for that to continue.  Listen to Chloe Styler on Apple Music Listen to Chloe Styler on Spotify For more Sunburnt Country Music: Instagram Facebook  YouTube website  Substack Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.