On Stage
Chloe Slater’s debut album ‘Riot Youth’ seems to unfold in the fleeting, chaotic moments before doomsday – a coming of age record fit for the modern world. Slater, though, is not one to lie down and surrender; instead, she offers up fragments of guidance, intertwined between stark observations on the environment she finds herself in. “I feel there’s a lot of nostalgia for the past and fear of the future right now,” she muses. “That’s the main theme of the whole album.”
Our collective identity crisis is presented in the sense of urgency that runs through the record like a lightning strike. Across 10 tracks, Slater departs her signature, succinct commentary on the issues plaguing her generation: social divide, toxic internet culture, our dwindling sense of community, the climate crisis and, ultimately, the vampirish billionaire class cashing in on our collective misery. It arrives right on time in an era when hopelessness and nihilism run rife, with Slater painting the truest portrait of what it is to be young and British and brave enough to be hopeful today.
Growing up in Bournemouth – a sleepy, overlooked town nestled between patches of jagged coastline – Slater sought refuge from the mundanity surrounding her in literature and music. It was in 2019 when, frustrated that she was too young to vote against the Tories in the general election, she began viewing music as both a creative and political outlet, and started writing her own songs, steadily carving out a witty yet pointed take on protest music.
Her debut EP, ‘You Can’t Put A Price On Fun’, was finally released in 2024, with the track ‘Nothing Shines On This Island’ quickly taking off on TikTok, finding a like-minded audience in other young people angry about growing up in post-Brexit Britain. She swiftly followed it up with 2025’s ‘Love Me Please’ – both releases laying the foundations for her socially aware, cathartic brand of indie rock. In the past few years, she’s also made a name for herself as a compelling live performer, opening for Alessi Rose, Role Model and Courtney Barnett.