Let the church bells ring! On Jan. 27, Chloe Bailey blessed us all, dropping the music video for her track “Pray It Away” – the lead single off her upcoming debut album, “In Pieces.” To tease her first record, which is set to release in March, the singer-songwriter, who goes by Chlöe professionally, shared cinematic visuals, featuring heavy gospel influences, spectacular praise dancing, and heavenly vocals, as well as a slew of high-fashion looks.
The video began with Chlöe kneeling in a church with her hands in prayer, surrounded by the warm glow of flickering candles, the flames intercepting the darkness like constellations. “Just start healin’ now when I hear his name, I get more triggered,” Chlöe sang, wearing a traditional off-the-shoulder wedding dress and veil. “My feelings, my feelings, my feelings, they really got hurt and I want better.”
Although Chlöe previously told POPSUGAR her album would be “wayyy too hot to handle,” at its core, “Pray It Away” is a song that deals with heartbreak and an unfaithful partner. Still, that doesn’t mean that Chlöe held back from her signature sultry flair. Later in the video, she transformed from a bitter newlywed with glitter tears in her eyes to a confident alter ego ready for revenge in a plunging latex bodysuit. “I wanna hit where it hurts,” she sang in the chorus. “But I’ma just pray it away before I give him what he deserves first.”
Arguably one of the most impressive parts of Chlöe’s video was the choreography, which incorporated praise dancing – a style that emerged in Baptist churches around the start of the 19th century, known for its step and stomping motions to express joy. While Chlöe put her own, contemporary spin on the custom, her commitment to detail spoke volumes about what we can expect from the rest of the record.
Get your first glimpse of Chlöe’s debut album above, and see how she walked the line between heartache and vengeance in style.