Chlöe Howl and the Sound of Someone Meaning It

Eighteen years old, British, and already in possession of a voice that sounds like it has been through something. Chlöe Howl introduced herself to the UK with No Strings—sharp, emotionally precise, no wasted syllables—and her follow-up Rumour is the track that’s been following me around all week.

I’ve watched this particular wave of young British and antipodean women making pop with actual conviction cycle through enough times now—Lorde, Ellie Goulding, the whole succession—that I should probably be more guarded about it. I’m not. Howl feels less like a product of a system than someone who showed up ahead of schedule, already knowing what she wanted to say. Whether she breaks through internationally or not is the kind of thing you can’t control and probably shouldn’t try to predict. Right now the songs are good, she means them, and that’s the only criterion that matters to me.