By Scarlett Kersey
Photographer: Hope Glassel // HMUA: Rory Alvarez // Styling: Rory Alvarez // Editor: Scarlett Kersey
For an artist that is known for taking over dance floors with her high-energy pop and sparkly electronica, Chloe Jane’s new single “Sleepless Nights” released February 6th came as a surprise. I had assumed this track was an emotional release, a melancholic anthem. Instead, the track captures the moment of sadness and light colliding, creating something unimaginably beautiful.
“I was going through a dark time, roaming the streets, partying a lot, distracting myself. And then this light of a person came into my life and fully accepted me for who I am. Saw all of my vulnerabilities, saw my troubles... I've never experienced that before.”
“They gave me sleepless nights in the way that I never wanted to sleep.” Chloe explains softly, “I just wanted to stay up and talk and I just felt so emotionally alive being around them.”
This wasn’t an accidental shift, but an intentional juxtaposition of what once was a dark chapter becoming a beacon of hope, giving her permission to embrace vulnerability. If there’s anything that I learned about Chloe through our conversation, it’s her resilience and bravery: to wear her heart on her sleeve and not back down from the industry that will continuously try to work against her.
“You figure yourself out as you go along in life. No one knows… who they are, what they're meant to do… You just wake up every day and keep going and believing in what you believe, finding your people, finding your passions.”
From dance floors to depth, I implored her to dive a little deeper on her EDM roots and how they have shaped her new more vulnerable work. Chloe’s not new to the scene- in fact, it’s the foundation of her artistry.
“I grew up DJing from a young age… Since I was 13. I started my first residency in Ibiza DJing at Amnesia with Paris Hilton. So, I've always loved electronic music and the positivity that it brings to people.”
“When you go out to a festival or a club or an outdoor dance environment… It's just a euphoric experience. It brings so much serotonin and love and happiness when you're on that dance floor with everyone… I also love when there's, you know, real depth and emotion behind it.”
She’s now blending that euphoria with something more intimate.
“I'm now figuring out for this new year that I want… both the real depth and the electronic elements.”
Growing up an athlete, Chloe translates her years training to be an Olympic ice skater into her resilience as an artist. She uses storytelling as a way to portray the emotional journey of Sleepless Nights, revisiting her training days in the rink. Filmed on a frozen lake in Canada, it’s deeply personal and offers more of herself to the world.
“It really… teaches you discipline and determination, but it's hard mentally physically on your body.”
“Training to be an ice skater my whole life has helped especially with… discipline and hard work. You have to have a hard work ethic. It's nonstop. You know, making the music, touring, creating all the visuals, posting every day. It's a lot. And if you don't have that work ethic and that drive, it's gonna be very difficult to succeed.”
“You can't give up.” She says, “Like in ice skating. You fall, you get back up again. You fall in music, something bad happens, get back up again… You just keep getting up.”
From DJing the PAPER magazine party and singing live- to dancing in her music videos and returning to the ice whenever she can: Chloe’s proved that she doesn’t need to fit into any box. During the making of “Sleepless Nights” 16 string players were brought in to record her track live. She’s doing things her way unapologetically.
It’s an intentional evolution.
“With Sleepless Nights, I went to Nashville for two days and I got 16 live string players that played on the song… They're all real live strings. And as a musician, that was like one of the most incredible experiences in the world, hearing your music you wrote being played back to you by an orchestra of strings.”
Chloe continues to prove time and time again that she’s pushing the boundaries of her sound. By embracing her authenticity and experimenting with raw melodies- this marks a new beginning for her artist journey. Drawing inspiration from her home city in New York, she takes it to her home studio as she channels her energy into the release of her upcoming album.
“That's what the goal is this year. And starting it off with this song as a start to that new era of being not scared to be vulnerable and being yourself… It doesn't matter what other people think or say. You just have to completely be yourself and that's it.”
“It really makes an impact when you can connect with other people and show that you're going through the same things as others.”
She strives to send a message of love and light through sharing her music.