Chez – PHOtO (2021)
When we first meet people, we form a picture of them in our minds. It is often this picture that we start to fall in love with, but the question is whether we ever update this picture as we learn more about the person. This is what Chez is considering in the catchy tones of ‘PHOtO’. A relatable single, it considers all the emotions we feel when falling in love and learning new things about people.
This is a rather deep topic for Chez to take on with her debut single, but she does so with a delightful blend of pop and RnB. Drawing on emotions that we have all felt at some point, she merges personal experiences with universal ones. By the end of the song, you will be questioning the pictures you have of people and how you interact with them.
‘PHOtO’ shimmers to life and pulls you into the deep beats. There is a light twinkling feeling to the high levels of the melody as the music sparkles against your ears. The deep beats have a touch of RnB to them with a contemporary edge before rolling into a rise. While a relatively minimalistic melody, there is a great depth to it that shines in the layering of the melodic elements. Each layer is another wash of colour and experience that sharpens the picture of the lyrics.
As you sway and float to the melody, the vocal delivery has your head gently bopping to their rhythm. The lyrics pull you into the moment you create an image of someone in your mind before flowing into a reflective vibe. The reflective flows have you looking back on the pictures you have and wonder if they have been updated over the years. While the photo is used as the base of the track, there is a lot more going on in the lyrics that shines through in the vocal performance.
Chez takes on the image of people in our mind while reflecting on whether we update them as time goes by in ‘PHOtO’. There is a light feeling to the single as Chez moves you from affection to betrayal while considering how this matches with the picture of a person. It is a much deeper single than the bright and layered melody makes you think.
