The World Of

“BROKEN ME”

Welcome to the world of “Broken Me”.

When I was creating ‘All My Feelings Falling Out’ I wanted each song to have it’s own world, just like they have their own stories. For me, a song is so much more than just the final product you hear. It’s the 2am conversations about artwork, the last minute ideas that completely change an outcome, the people who helped me bring these songs to life.

I have so many big feelings now that this piece of my heart is out in the world. There’s a part of me that is so excited to see how other people connect with it. If it puts a description to a feeling that was a little difficult to describe in one word. If people even like the song.

But the other part of me feels open, exposed and vulnerable. Which is exactly the place this song was written from. It’s a bit funny how that’s gone full circle.

I wrote “Broken Me” five years ago, and since then its been written, re-written, recorded, re-recorded, tweaked, and perfected. A whole creative world of sound, visuals and colour has been born from it.

I’ve documented everything, right from the start, and now I want to share it with you.

Throughout the world of “Broken Me”, you will see the process of the songs creation; from the first voice note to the “that’s a wrap” of how “Broken Me” was made. Every decision, every mood board, every crazy idea I had that came to fruition to make this song what it is.

I’m a real sucker for the process of creating and I hope you are too.

2020

SONGWRITING

Handwritten text asking, Did I come here for forgiveness? Is that too much to assume? Handwritten text reading: Did I come here just to shadowbox your dark and empty rooms. A lyric from from the song Broken Me by Chloe Wilson

I started writing “Broken Me” off the back of processing my first real heartbreak. I had all these new feelings I was dealing with which felt really big compared to the ones I was used to. I had so many questions. So many questions I had to answer myself.

This song was one of my first attempts at that.

Handwritten text reading: Did I come here just to shadowbox your dark and empty rooms. A lyric from from the song Broken Me byChloë Wilson

At the time, I thought using the word ‘shadowbox’ in a song could be really cool. This got vetoed by a more mature songwriter (me)…

A person sitting on a bench in a room, drinking from a mug, with a piano nearby and a window with blinds in the background.

I sound so young in this voice note!! (I literally went through the DEPTHS of my voice memos [all 3,562 of them] to find these haha)

Handwritten quote saying "Did I not show enough mercy? When you broke into my heart?" Handwritten text reading: Did I come here just to shadowbox your dark and empty rooms. A lyric from from the song Broken Me by Chloe Wilson

Handwritten note that says, 'Coast last time I remembered, it was you who put the wall'

Songwriting is an extremely personal process for me. Often I won’t let anyone listen to my songs until I’ve had some time to detach from them. I didn’t show “Broken Me” to anyone for almost a year.

Handwritten text that reads, "Did I dress up just enough for you? Do I fit inside your box?" Handwritten text reading: Did I come here just to shadowbox your dark and empty rooms. A lyric from from the song Broken Me by Chloe Wilson

Handwritten text that reads: "Or Am I breaking at the seams cause our love was on the rocks?" A lyric from from the song Broken Me by Chloe Wilson

A handwritten note that says, 'Do you need more time?'

Handwritten text saying 'How do I get my cut of your sister?'

This was the first full version of “Broken Me” I could find in my voice memos. If you’ve listened to the song, you’ll know there’s a good few lines that got taken out and a lot of other parts that changed. But the second verse is pretty much unchanged.

Handwritten text that says 'Vores!' with a horizontal line underneath.

White handwritten text on a black background, with a note pointing to a line that says 'one of my few lines in the whole song!'

Handwritten note stating, "Did I not give enough of me? Whether you cut it up and told me to stop the blood x2".

Handwritten quote saying, "To me, you are everything."

Chloe Wilson in a flowing white dress is dancing or performing on a dark stage with blue lighting, head tilted back, and arms raised

Handwritten text that reads 'The Voted Outside'

Handwritten quote that says, "But I’m ready, to move on now. Don’t need your sympathy I’m moving on now," on a black background.

2021

THE FIRST RECORDING

Chloë Wilson with a producer who is sitting at a desk in a home studio with music equipment, editing on a computer. Chloe wilson is with headphones on video call, smiling at the camera. She is recording the first demo of Broken Me.

When I was ready to bring “Broken Me” to life, I got in touch with a producer who I followed on instagram. His studio was based by the sea, I was in Leeds at the time, so I packed my little car up for a few days and made the trip down.

Handwritten note that reads, "Yes, I used to have blonde hair."

Photos of two sunsets over the ocean, one with a book in the foreground on a pebbled beach.

Handwritten text that reads "reading books and watching the sunrise".

This session was also when ‘Have You Ever Been So High’ and ‘Designated Driver’ got recorded! (If you’re a true OG you will know what I’m talking about ;)

“A Little Bit of Broken Me”

Was what ‘Broken Me’ was originally called (bit wordy).

Here’s the original recording of it.

Last year (2023) I was ready to release this as the third single after “Have You Ever Been So High” but...

Image contains handwritten text that says 'Fast focus to 2024...'

VADA Music recording studio with a large mixing console, a person working at the console, computer monitor displaying audio editing software, surround sound speakers, and window in the background with natural light.

… I MET SOMEONE

2024

THE FINAL RECORDING

At the time, I really liked the original version of ‘A Little Bit Of Broken Me’, but I always felt it was missing the grit and shimmer the lyrics were infused with.

I spent three years tweaking this song, changing the lyrics, instruments, and overall feel, but I never got it to sound how I always imagined it.

It got to the point where I thought it just wasn’t meant to be, that perhaps everything I could hear in my head was just that. In my head. So I went on to write other songs and ‘Broken Me’ began to die a slow death…

One thing you should know about me is I’m not very good at hiding how I feel (it doesn’t take a genius to listen to ‘All My Feelings Falling Out’ and figure that out quickly). So on the first day of the session, I had to go and find a quiet corner, silently scream and jump about for 10 minutes to let all those big feelings of mine out before composing myself and switching to *professional musician mode* (you will learn very quickly in the other songs worlds that this didn’t last long).

But this was the first day, and a dream of mine since I was 6 years old. So composed I was.

We started recording ‘Broken Me’ at the piano, how all my songs start and are written, so it felt right. As I sat there I remember thinking to myself ‘OH MY GOD CHLOË ARE WE REALLY DOING THIS RIGHT NOW IS THIS REALLY REAL?!’ Yes, this is really real. And yes, we are doing this right now.

I spent HOURS re-writing and recording this part (I think about 7 or 8 in total). This song was going to be my first real statement to the world as an artist so you better believe I was going to sit at that piano until every note was perfect and felt how it did the first time I wrote the song.

Then we got down the drums, bass, and guitar and suddenly the sounds in my head were coming to life. Broken Me was becoming everything I dreamed it would be. And more.

…But I’ve learnt as an artist, that sometimes all it takes is someone with a similar ear and level of madness as you to bring an idea to life. Anyone that says creating music is a solo mission is lying.

So one day I met with a producer. I had worked with quite a few people at this point who were great at what they did, but I never felt as though they truly understood what was going on in my head (I’m not surprised by this to be honest because most of the time I don’t either).

When I’m bringing something to life that is so intertwined with who I am and very often my life, it’s so important to me to work with people who get that, who see and hear what I see (and also what I don’t) and understand the madness that goes on in my head. I didn’t think this one would be any different, but I had nothing to lose.

I sent every single song I had ever written to this guy. Literally, all 173 of them (some were just voice notes), and we went through every single one, picking apart the lyrics, their meaning, the structures. I felt as though my creativity had been laid out on an operating table and poked and prodded. I’d never experienced this kind of scrutiny before, it lit a little fire inside of me.

Then we recorded the vocals. If I’m being honest, I found it a little difficult to record this song again. When I record I try to become as ‘in’ the song as I possibly can, I go back through my journals from when I originally wrote the track to remember what I was doing, how I was feeling, what was going on in my life. Long story short, 16 year old Chloë was a stormy time to be alive and all those big feelings came rushing back without hesitation. But I think it paid off ;)

BUT I WASN’T DONE THERE…

However there was one song that was kind of brushed over, it wasn’t picked apart in the same way, and it wasn’t talked about in extreme detail. I thought perhaps it was because it really wasn’t good, but in fact, it was the opposite. I walked away from that meeting with my first ‘real’ studio date booked and ‘Broken Me’ ready to record….

I’m not going to lie, this session hit me like a TRUCK. 15 hour days, full concentration, any spare time was spent sleeping or eating. You know that feeling when you do something yourself for the first time that others make look so easy and you think ‘holy sh*t. I’m in the deep end here’. Yup, it was like that.

And I loved every single minute of it.

We spent 2 (and a half) days recording this song and afterwards, we listened to it on these great big speakers. It was in that moment, between my fever dream tears that I realised I could create what was in my head all along, and I had found the people to help me do it.

2025

THE MUSIC VIDEO

I find it difficult to articulate what is actually going on in my brain, but if I had to, I would say it’s like 306832 images being flicked through at once in vivid colour with explosions going off and at some point (usually when I’m trying to go to sleep) they suddenly file themselves in the right cabinet and a complete, start to finish idea is formed that I can act on.

The music video for ‘Broken Me’ was exactly that.