This year, Halle Bailey, who is one half of Chloe x Halle, has gone straight from starring in Disney’s successful movie The Little Mermaid to debuting her first solo single. This year is blessed.
If you remember the controversy that surrounded Halle’s casting as Ariel, you’ll know just how important it is for the actress and singer to headline her solo musical career with a song like “Angel” – a song that celebrates blackness and femininity. The lyrics truly set a standard for what an empowerment anthem should be like, as she sings about the ups and downs of existence, but in a way that makes you realize that falling is not failure. The soft melodic piano-backed track is further taken into the space of perfection with her beautiful croons and her stunning display of range. We don’t need any more reason to believe that she is the perfect Ariel, but if we did, “Angel” should easily cast away all our doubts.
“Do you ever make it out of your head? / Do you still swim in your thoughts? / Do you still mistake your flaws for property?” she sings in the song’s first verse of how one can get lost in the constant stress of existence. As angels, Halle advises us that our wings aren’t meant to weigh us down.
“But angels make a way somehow” is a line that was used in the promotion of the single prior to its release, and it’s not hard to see why, as the line seems like a hot bath after a long cold, and tiring day. The energy in the chorus is noticeably different and improves the overall mood of the song, as she sings, “Black girl here, Black girl with the Black girl hair / Took a little sunkiss just to look like this / God-sent, you’re an angel.” The replying “angel” chorus helps give the R&B track a gospel-like feel that makes for an immersive experience.
Halle then goes from the encouraging tone of the first verse to a second verse that praises all that she is and has accomplished: “I’m a big deal, I gеt sick and tired of holdin’ it in / Rich blood, you can probably see the gold in my skin / I’m more than a girl, won’t let the troubles of the world / Come weigh me down.”
Since Halle first teased “Angel” with a snippet, the excitement around her debut solo project has been through the roof. And she made sure to leverage it, dropping the song with a music video that’s both beautiful and inspirational to watch.
The song’s first listen invites you to listen again, and to pay closer attention to its lyrics. Only time will tell if it can hold its own against the pop and rap songs that are hitting it big on the charts.
