In her visceral, cathartic video for “Wasted Youth” released today, Chloe Star rages and shares her healing from a traumatizing, but ultimately necessary teenage experience in a wilderness treatment program.
“This song is about my experience going through that program, but it’s also a song that brings light to the fact that if I hadn’t been sent there, I wouldn’t be where I am now,” she says. “Without it, I wouldn’t be able to share my story and open the door for others to share their stories.”
The video, directed by Alicia Becker, is defined by brilliant juxtapositions.
After we see now-Chloe going to bed and suffering from a PTSD flashback, we’re dropped into a fantastic single-shot, unflinching depiction of Chloe being forced into a van to go to the program.
The absence of editing cuts as the orderlies force her down and she hollers and fights back, then as they carry her out the front door while her tearful mom begs her to “just go with them, Chloe!”, makes it tough to take in, in an incredibly effective way. By the time the track begins when she’s finally in the van, we’re primed and in her head as she begins to sing her reflective inner monologue.
We’re then thrust into the wilderness program, and the imagery of this troop of teenage girls in their high-visibility vests, tramping through the mountains, is gloriously dissonant.
They march along and start fires in shots reminiscent of Wes Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom, but in place of the sweetness of those scenes, they’re raging, throwing things, absolutely pissed off. Even in their anger, though, we never lose an edge of playfulness, helped along by the infectious ‘la la la la la’ theme and Chloe’s sardonic delivery.
We see that they’re LITTLE GIRLS, and the depiction of their girlhood and their anger was for me, frankly, incredibly cathartic to watch.
As I watched this, my own traumatized, rage-filled teenage memories bubbled up, down to teenage Chloe’s mattress on the floor and the chaos of her room.
Chloe mentions above that she’s opening the door for others to share their own stories; here, I’d raise that to say that she’s using her unique voice to speak for all of us in a way only she can. My softer, folky tunes will never adequately capture this part of my life, but here, Chloe did. She’s adding her expression to the canon of musical healing; what a sacred service, and what a delight that something so important and deep can also rock this hard.
Speaking of rocking – Chloe Star’s music is absolutely at home as a rich addition to the SoCal pop-punk / alternative tradition.
It lives comfortably alongside anything Travis Barker has gotten his hands on lately, or Machine Gun Kelly at his best. It’s impeccably produced and performed, absolutely pristine, but her voice adds a grit that feels like the hot sidewalks I grew up on. I’m also aware that the first comparisons in my mind noted before are both men. I didn’t know how much I needed to hear a voice like hers in this energy of music, and I’m sure I’m not the only one who needs Chloe Star to speak for her. The word ‘anthem’ can get thrown around a lot – this is, without a doubt, an anthem.
Throughout and especially in its ending, even in its stark reality, the video remains tender to young Chloe, never straying into ‘trauma porn’.
We see Chloe, now an adult. She’s face-mask on, journal in hand as she jumps into bed pre-flashback, and after, her psychiatrist/therapist is reachable, in yet another fantastic juxtaposition the video treats us to. We’re able to see the ‘where are they now’ aspect, held right up against her Tasmanian-devil teenage self.
This depiction is something I want to SHOUT that from the rooftops, because it flies in the face of the tortured artist archetype that asks “if I heal from this, will I sill make good art?”.
Chloe isn’t stuck in that years-ago headspace, yet is still able to access a dynamic, electric, snarling voice. I’m reminded of a quote from Bonnie Raitt I heard in the Wiser Than Me podcast this week; when she got sober, she was afraid she’d lose the ability to access this place of pain in her music. It turned out that channeling became more potent and effective when there was nothing clouding it.
Chloe proves we can be on a healing journey and be all the more powerful for it.
A hearty congratulations and thank you to everyone involved in this video; full credits below! “Wasted Youth” will be on repeat all day over here. I may just go climb a tree and yell.
Keep Up with Chloe Star
Listen to “Wasted Youth”
Credits:
Starring & Executive producer: CHLOE STAR @frenchtoastkiller
Executive Producer: 68 Charles @68charles_ent
Producer Jake Carter: @notjakecarter
Director Alicia Becker @alirea
Editor: Chris Simmons @chrisimmons
AD Jake Carter @notjakecarter
Director of Photography: Andrew Johnson
Coordinator, 2nd AD: Patricia Reyes
Coordinator: Victoria Leon
AC: Kam Nowry @iamkamn
Gaffer: Daniel Tansley @tansleylitthis
Steadycam Op: Don Turner @steadidon
Still Photography: Andrew Valdivia @duhhhitsdrew
BTS Shooter: Matt Stanley @mattstnly
Makeup Artist: Mariana Flores @marmua
Lead PA: Edward Bentitez @edwardprola
Colorist: Shani Varner @shanivarner
