Alice Chater and the Future of Pop Music

Liz Foster ’22
A&E Editor
After tweeting a link to my article on pop’s new sour-sweetheart Slayyyter, a fellow Twitter user informed me I “needed” to write an article on Alice Chater. Alice Chater was promised to me as another “main pop girl” and after exploring her discography, I see why. The singer is atwenty six year old platinum blonde, hailing from England. She has years of schooling as a singer, dancer, and actress under her belt–and a seal of approval from will.i.am. Signed to both Virgin Records and Capitol Records, Chater is no stranger to the industry. She has been bubbling under the surface, waiting to break mainstream pop barriers since 2015. With her sweetly seductive vocals and high production sound, 2019 may very well be the year we all enter Alice’s wonderland.
Hitting shuffle on Chat- er’s Spotify page, the fraternity banger “More Than You Know” erupted into my ears. This is Alice Chater? The future of pop lies in a remix I’ve belted out in the bowels of Vernon Street? Perhaps so. Despite her EDM leaning singles, Chater carefully balances fun with seriousness. “Vision of Love” is a beautiful ballad with the vocalist’s notes ringing out strongly and clearly against gentle piano keys. Stripped away from the complications of Top 40 sounds, Chater’s music sounds reminiscent of Amy Winehouse. Her vocals are powerhouse level on this track, jumping from note to note and belt to belt over soothing harmonies.
Alice Chater offers around nine singles for the listener, and an EP aptly titled WonderL.A.N.D. Her single “Heartbreak Hotel” is a fun, charming bop with simplistic production. The song follows the pop pattern, but allows the artist’s vocals to leap into the eardrums, with a melodic “Welcome to the heartbreak hotel” chiming over the chorus. Similarly, “Thief” focuses on a failed love and combines dance elements, like tribal sounding drums, with a centrist pop sensation throughout. Chater’s tone is fun, even as she recognizes that she’s “falling for a thief.” My personal favorite of Alice Chater’s collection of songs, “GIRLSXBOYS,” is electric enough to swim through the speakers of a dance floor, but provides the sultry vocals that sit perfectly in 2019’s pop music. “Are you ready now?” she asks before leaping into a dancy, high octave chorus. The essence of Alice Chater seems to be fusing the worlds of dance, house, and pop music.
The music of Alice Chater is not reinventing the wheel, but her talent and delivery lend towards noteworthy. Songs like “Hourglass” benefit from her vocals. The instrumentals are dancey and lively, begging to flood basement speakers. In places where a generic, or less talented, pop voice would have created another song as lackluster as “The Middle,” Chater’s charm shines. The blonde songstress deserves a headlining show at a nightclub, there’s no venue better suited for her. With her funky blend of electronica and traditional pop structure, Alice Chater offers a promising wave for the music scene to ride.