If ever a musician could find beauty at the end of the world, it'd be indie rock singer-songwriter Chloe Slater, and she does so with precision and passion on her latest single 'Mother Nature's Killing Spree'. The track follows 'Ugly' and 'Southern Youth' as the third single from her upcoming debut album 'Riot Youth', which is due out on 9th October. 

Slater has made a name for herself as a clever, incisive, politically conscious musician. So far, she's explored the conflict between feminism and capitalism on 'Fig Tree' and 'Tiny Screens', Britain's complicity in the destruction of Palestine on 'War Crimes', and the environmental cost of overconsumption on 'Ugly'. Now, her climate consciousness provides the foundation for 'Mother Nature's Killing Spree', on which she imagines a fairytale romance in the aftermath of a climate apocalypse. The track is the closest Slater has ever come to writing a straightforward love song, but even still, it's an off-kilter, complicated one.

On 'Mother Nature's Killing Spree', Slater destabilises the listener from the start. The song opens with her distorted, disembodied vocals floating above a folky guitar melody, a far cry from the driving guitars that usually characterise her sound. But the track quickly kicks into gear, with a shimmering guitar riff ringing out over an energetic rhythm. When Slater's vocals come back in, she seems at first to be describing everyday moments from an ordinary romance: "You're reading the paper / It's turning to water / I'm holding your hand as we wait for the shower". But as the verse progresses, Slater alludes to the underlying darkness of the couple's situation, hinting at the dystopian landscape they find themselves in: "How did we get here? / We let it happen / Is heaven a real place? / We can imagine". 

Slater has always been skilled at writing lyrics, but there's a welcome dynamism to the guitar and bass on this track that signals her development as an indie rock musician and bodes well for her upcoming album/ The song's outro, which contrasts the frenetic pace of the drums with Slater's deadpan vocal melody and her ethereal overlaid harmony, is particularly striking. Ultimately, the track is a cathartic and surprisingly optimistic reckoning with the end of the world that convincingly evokes the resilience of human connection. 

Chloe Slater is on tour in the UK and EU this October.

Mia Tobin Power

@miatobinpower

Image: 'Mother Nature's Killing Spree' Official Single Cover