The description on Chloe x Halle’s YouTube channel still reads “just two girls who love making music in our living room.” Perhaps it stands as a monument to their humble beginnings, or maybe it’s as true today as it was 12 years ago, when they launched the page. Of late, though, that description feels far too modest to explain the talent and ambition heard on their debut album The Kids Are Alright.
The Bailey sisters, who grew up in Atlanta, started out covering an array of pop songs on YouTube at ages 13 and 11, respectively. The sheer power of their voices was undeniable, so much so that their 2013 cover of Beyoncé’s “Pretty Hurts” landed on the pop star’s radar. She signed them to her Parkwood imprint in 2015 and took them on the road as an opening act on her Formation tour, providing them with a ready-made audience, which Chloe x Halle have expanded by landing a co-starring role as twins on the “Black-ish” spinoff “Grown-ish.” But despite having one of the biggest artists in the world in their corner, Chloe x Halle aren’t banking on success by association. Their musical style is fearless, reshaping pop and R&B in their own images until even the highest-profile co-signs seem beside the point.
As soon as the album begins, they give us a taste of their intricate vocal arrangements. “Hello Friend,” the opening track, is a crash course in tonality and harmony done the Chloe x Halle way. Without a single stray note, they fill the space with layers upon layers of their angelic voices, soul and joy radiating everywhere. They follow that with the title track, an ode to the youth that is equal parts encouragement and a statement to adults that the future rests in good hands. It’s an especially prescient statement as society continues to bear witness to youth-led movements against gun violence and other socio-political ills—and a reminder of the importance of just letting kids be kids. “If I’m in the mood, I’ll get as ratchet as I wanna/Turn around and show you I can bless you with some culture,” they sing, making their case with even more ornate harmonies powered by tribal percussion and a chorus of themselves.
Their inventiveness is further amplified by the fact that Chloe x Halle write and arrange all of their songs; Chloe is the masterful producer on all but three here. Throughout the album, they excel when they push their artistry to its limits. “Down” highlights Halle’s operatic range while “Galaxy” is as otherworldly as its title. By the time the gorgeous ballad “Cool People” or the anthemic acrobatics of “Baby on a Plane” roll around, they might as well just be showing off. They shine, too, on a pure songwriting level. Chloe x Halle are a total package: There are sitcom themes (the lighthearted “Grown,” from “Grown-ish”) and soundtrack music (“Warrior,” from Ava Duvernay’s A Wrinkle in Time) fitting into a consistent whole with the rest of the album. “Hi Lo” is the album’s banger, with deep bass and racing hi-hats courtesy of Chloe and co-producer Pluss, who also worked on Beyoncé’s “Formation” and Kendrick Lamar’s “HUMBLE.” alongside Mike WiLL Made-It. “You can try to point out all my flaws, that’s okay ’cause I still love them all,” they sing before GoldLink offers a suave verse of affirmations.
Chloe x Halle’s music exists in its own right, and speaks to and for a generation nearly two decades their mentor’s junior: Chloe is 19, while Halle turns 18 this week. The Kids Are Alright feels like a coming-of-age moment for the sisters, conveying the experience of having to figure out this music thing while still figuring out life. There are songs about self-discovery and lessons learned the hard way, but there's also a childlike innocence and sense of virtue blanketing the album. Chloe x Halle are a burst of optimism in a world of cynics.
Toward the end of the album, there’s a slow-burning meditation called “If God Spoke” whose tone gets to what’s so special about The Kids Are Alright. There is divinity in the way these ladies are unafraid to be hopeful and comfortable as themselves, and in the way they project that gift outward. The vocal layers make two women sound like an entire choir, as their voices wind around each other to unlock small pieces of heaven. Listening to their debut, it’s easy to believe that if God spoke, she would sound like Chloe x Halle.
