Single Review: Chlöe – Boy Bye

One thing about Chlöe, she’s always been eclectic. From the days of singing covers on YouTube, to the Chloe x Halle’s EPs, mixtapes and albums—Chlöe’s never been one to be put in a box. So to see do just that and box herself with her debut was unfortunate and disheartening. Especially as somebody who knew what Chlöe was capable of and after how good Ungodly Hour was, but we’ll get to the Ungodly Hour of it all. Even if you loved “Have Mercy”, “Treat Me” and “Surprise”—you knew Chlöe could do better than these one note songs she kept releasing. And when she had released her first post In Pieces solo single “FYS”, I thought ‘Here we go again’. It felt like an offcut from In Pieces, rather than an introduction to a ‘new era’ and an attempt at course correction.

Her new single “Boy Bye” however? It’s kinda great. And it truly feels like a fresh start, and the placing of Chlöe in a much better light.

“Boy Bye” is Chlöe’s best single by a mile and something which feels far more indicative of who I’ve known Chlöe to be. “Bye Boy” hits a real sweet spot for Chlöe musically. Whatever she was tapped into here, she needs to keep tapping into it for all the songs for her upcoming second studio album, Trouble in Paradise. Don’t even bother putting “FYS” on the album. But let’s see what games Columbia Records play this time around. I would really like an oral history on Chlöe’s debut album and how many changes that shit went through. Because it clearly did. In an interview she did with MTV back in 2021, Chlöe had mentioned that she liked how her voice sounded on pop records, just for the album to…not really feature any such songs. And Chlöe was very vocal on social media at one point that she had no idea what was happening with her album and when it was coming out.

HENNYWAY.

Chlöe – Boy Bye | Parkwoord Entertainment / Columbia Records

“Boy Bye” is more in the vein of not just what I wanted from Chlöe, but what I had expected from her—especially following on from Ungodly Hour. And yes, I know that was a Chloe x Halle album. But there was something about Ungodly Hour that seemed to activate Chlöe. She just seemed to gel with the material, vibe and the aesthetic shift of it all far more than Halle did, and you can kinda see this was the case based on what Chlöe and Halle have released separately. “Have Mercy” and “Treat Me” weren’t exactly drastic departures from Ungodly Hour, but they did feel like the most basic of routes for Chlöe to have taken from it. And Chlöe wanting to separate herself from a Chloe x Halle album makes complete sense. But I do think it was a mistake to do it with the songs she chose. “Boy Bye” feels like the most ideal balance between Chlöe indulging in her solo artistry in a way that nicely showcases facets of it, whilst also honouring where Chloe x Halle last left off with Ungodly Hour. It is also a better showcase of her vocals than “Have Mercy” was. “Boy Bye” is not the amazing showcase of Chlöe’s vocals that I think it could have been. There are many moments throughout this song where Chlöe could have given more and really shat on some bitches. But you get a greater sense of ‘Oh, her voice is nice and she can sing’ than you did from “Have Mercy”.

“Boy Bye” also has a folk edge to it, making it an incredibly timely song, releasing in the wake of Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter—an album which will mark a kick start of mainstream pop starting to root ‘n’ toot again. But it doesn’t feel derivative or like it’s trying to chase anything. And to get into the Ungodly Hour of it all again, it shares a similar type of energy to the song “Tipsy”—one of two of the full length tracks on the album which Chloe was a sole producer of.

Chlöe is a music nerd who likes Imogen Heap. But she’s also a young woman who likes pop music. But she also likes Megan Thee Stallion and a beat she can shake her ass to. So, “Boy Bye” feels like a really good intersection of these things. If you strip out the drums, the cussing and turn it down a bit, “Boy Bye” could just about be a Frou Frou song. Sorta, kinda.

Chlöe – Boy Bye | Parkwoord Entertainment / Columbia Records

“Boy Bye” is a song that gives Chlöe options to spin all sorts of ways when she performs it live. She can just shake ass and give boom-kat-kat choreo to the song as it is. Or she can lean into the vibe of the bridge on the music video version of the song (we gon’ get to that). Or she can perform the song acoustically with nothing but a guitar. There’s room for Chlöe to re-interpret, reimagine and remix “Boy Bye” in all sorts of ways. As I post this, she’s already performed the song at Coachella, where she mixed in Andre 3000’s “Hey Ya” seamlessly. And speaking of remixes, get Megan Thee Stallion or Shaboozey on this shit.

I do have some beef with Chlöe over this song though. Because as was the case with “Have Mercy”, the music video version of the song is different to the single version and is the superior version. The music video version of “Boy Bye” gives the bridge a whole different musical backdrop, adding in a good ol’ bit of honky tonk piano. It’s so unexpected, but cool, dramatic and still within the soundscape of the song—wonderfully highlighting yet another facet of Chlöe’s musicianship and artistry. Hopefully the album will get this version.

Chlöe – Boy Bye | Parkwoord Entertainment / Columbia Records

I can’t say enough good things about “Boy Bye”. It’s fun. It’s immediately catchy. It’s easy and breezy. This song feels like a far better introduction to Chlöe than “Have Mercy” did. And the prospect of what “Boy Bye” could springboard is also exciting, because it could very easily put Chlöe in the mix with the pop girls. And I like this, because not only does pop suit the shit out of Chlöe, but it will open her up to a whole new audience and space which doesn’t have a lot of Black girls in it, despite so many of the looks and sounds being Black girl shit tracing back to Janet Jackson and the Black women of rap of the 90s. But that’s a whole ‘nother post. I would have liked just a few more big vocal moments to just lift the song a tad more. But as it is, “Boy Bye” is a damn good song.

Chlöe. You did amazing sweetie.