MUSIC RUNS THROUGH Halle Bailey’s veins. Before she yearned to be part of your world as Ariel in The Little Mermaid, and before she left her stamp on R&B alongside her older sister as Chloë x Halle, the singer and actress was a little girl with an ambitious and musical soul. That version of herself stars in the teaser trailer for “Angel,” Bailey’s first official solo single set for release on Aug. 4.
In the 22-second preview, old footage flashes back to the singer’s earliest musical memories. It starts with her as a baby and follows her as she grows up. “I got an electric guitar!” a young Bailey exclaims in the video, ripping the wrapping paper off of her new instrument. In another clip, she shows off the angel pendent on her charm bracelet. Flashing forward through the years, the video catches up to the present as Bailey morphs into the performer she is now.
“Angels make a way somehow,” a message at the end of the video reads.”
Apart from her recordings for The Little Mermaid, Bailey’s only other musical releases were through Chloë x Halle. The duo shared their first EP, Uncovered, in 2013 with covers of popular singles from Miley Cyrus, Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, and more. But their true musical identity began to take form on their 2017 debut, The Two of Us, and even more so on 2018’s The Kids Are Alright. In 2020, they released Ungodly Hour, an album accompanied by what felt like weekly viral performance clips captured at the quarantine-friendly tennis court at their family home.
Earlier this year, Chloë shared her debut solo album, In Pieces. “I’m just using it as my diary to document how I’m feeling about it at a certain time,” she told Rolling Stoneabout her solo work. “I think that’s why this album feels like I am claiming who I am and I’m taking my power back, because I’m saying I’m flawed. I’m imperfect. But just because of that, that doesn’t mean you can take my freedom away.”
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Author: Al Denté
Photo: The White House – Public Domain