In a New Music Friday filled with interesting new singles, Chloé Ndiaye‘s “Hold Me” is a must-add to your playlists. This new song is the latest release from the Swiss rising star. Kicking off her musical path in 2022, she crafted her music inspired by the King of Pop, Michael Jackson, as well as powerhouses like Whitney Houston and Christina Aguilera. Since her beginnings, Chloé has worked hard to improve her music and live performances, constantly experimenting to push her boundaries. Last year, she unleashed her debut extended play, titled “Balcony.” The record mainly focused on the singer’s personal experiences, resulting in a very introspective EP.
Written together with her frequent collaborator DAIMON, the new single “Hold Me” is part of her upcoming three-track EP “Hold Me Closer.” In this project, Chloé navigates themes of desire and distance, and to fully represent these emotions, two songs are accompanied by music videos. Unlike her debut EP, with “Hold Me Closer,” she aims to connect more with listeners through “themes that are present in people’s everyday lives.”
In her exclusive interview with InMusic, Chloé delves into her music, new single “Hold Me,” and upcoming EP.
How would you define your music?
I would say that my music is soft, jazzy and sincere, I pay attention to the lyrics being inspired by poetry. Melodically I try to be rich and varied.
Who are your biggest musical influences?
Michael Jackson was my first big influence and always will be. He’s the one I constantly look up to. He also influenced many other artists that I deeply admire. In addition, great voices like Whitney Huston and Christina Aiguliera also accompanied me a lot. Finally, Musical Theater is one of my great influences and has contributed to the development of my passion for performance.
In 2022 you held your first headlining concert. What do you enjoy most when you perform live?
What I like most is the magic, the lights, and the people who come to listen and enjoy the moment. It’s like when you’ve spent days painting and you can finally exhibit your canvas in the museum, and see people’s reaction in real life.
How have you evolved as an artist and performer since then?
This first headlining concert was organized by us because we wanted to present our new single and upcoming next project in Geneva. It was a release party.
Since then, what has improved are the live arrangements, since I work with musicians I can offer another aspect of my music live.
I think that the quality of my performances are always better on each date obviously because I improve and learn more and more by doing. As an artist, I now have a catalog of songs to offer on platforms and which varies in style.
Can you tell us about new single “Hold Me”?
Of course ! For this new single, it’s the first time that I’m not at the origin of the toplines. Indeed, DAIMON wrote the song early 2023 and I found the melodies so beautiful and catchy that I absolutely wanted it to be released. We then co-wrote the remaining verse lyrics on a beat by Max Rugh and recorded it.
It’s a single with magnificent melodies and poignant lyrics that talk about lack and long-distance love. It evokes the coldness of solitude, while being very sensual and gentle.
Hold Me will be accompanied by a music video available the same day, May 24th. It was directed by the incredible Nicole Tran, who succeeded in transcribing the music into visuals, meeting all my expectations. I also wanted to have the dancer Vivienne Klein who is absolutely beautiful on screen.
We started working on this project in January and I’m really proud of the work done as an independent artist with a small team. Everyone who worked on the project has put so much energy, love and passion on it and I’m really grateful for that. I really hope that the single and music video will please the audience as much as we enjoyed working on it.
What is the meaning behind this song?
“Can you hold me when you’re not there” is the desire we have to be close to the person we love when they are far away and that obviously, this lack cannot be filled by ourselves nor anyone else. It’s a feeling where, when that one person is far from us, we find ourselves alone in the cold, and it’s only a matter of time because it’s very difficult to wait, to the point that it hurts.
“Hold Me” is featured on your upcoming EP of the same title. What can we expect from your the project, and how does this new song fit into the larger creative vision for the project?
Absolutely ! The EP, titled “Hold Me Closer”, is a trilogy of singles, each sharing themes of desire, closeness and distance, so they are all linked together.
I first had these songs named Hold Me, Closer and Miss Her aside and I thought it was good to come back after a year making a compilation with them three with similar visuals. I had in mind a specific artistic direction and I called Nicole Tran to take care of the visuals. She did incredible on the whole project.
What you can expect from it is groovy RnB sounds and catchy choruses accompanied by two finely crafted music videos, one for the song Hold Me and one for Miss Her. I aimed to showcase a little more of myself musically and artistically, opening the door to other projects after this one.
A year ago you unleashed your debut EP “Balcony.” What are the main differences with the upcoming “Hold Me Closer”?
Hold Me Closer is less experimental with slightly more commercial sounds I’d say. It also contains less songs, Balcony was presented as an album with Intro, Interlude and a storyline, while Hold Me Closer is a compilation of three independent singles.The main difference is that my first EP Balcony is very personal and introspective, while the next one will resonate, I think, more easily with the audience with themes that are present in people’s everyday life.
In terms of production, Hold Me Closer was carried out more quickly and with more risk-taking as I learned a lot from my first project Balcony.
One other thing I definitely wanted to keep was paying close attention to the sound quality and visual art that represents my music and working with talented people that are close friends as well.
What is a message you would like to give through your music and why?
When I write a song, it’s a specific feeling that I capture and turn into music, usually a feeling that is hard to describe with words. What I like when I listen to music is to immerse myself in my emotions so I hope that when you listen to mine, you reconnect with yours.
Write here something you want to let people know.
If there is something you want to do, honestly don’t hesitate because you learn by doing and you especially don’t want to have regrets. If you really want to do something, make it happen and surround yourself with the right people.
Listen to Chloé Ndiaye’s new single “Hold Me” on our Spotify playlist:
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