Written by Ethan M. Stone
The first thing you see in the "Energy" video is not the artist. It is the chains. Heavy silver links hang across a candlelit industrial window, swaying slightly, catching purple and blue light from somewhere off frame.
Chloe Sarah steps into the middle of them in a rhinestone-studded white top with crystals set along her hairline and cheekbones, and the chains stop reading as restraint almost immediately.
They read as staging. By the back half of the video she has metallic silver gloves on and both arms up, and the frame belongs entirely to her.
That visual choice does more work than most debut-level music videos attempt. "Energy," released July 31 through Da Soul Group, is a song about permission, specifically the not needing of it, and the video makes the argument visually before the second verse lands.
"To me, it's about walking into a room and not feeling like you need anyone's permission to be yourself," Sarah says of the record.
The video takes that literally. The performance sections are cut against a loft party, string lights overhead, a room full of people in LED shutter glasses laughing at something off camera, the purple wash from the main set bleeding into the corners.
Nobody in those shots is performing for the lens.
They are just in it. The contrast between Sarah alone behind the chains and the room full of people who look like they forgot a camera was there is the whole thesis of the song rendered in two setups.
The name came before almost anything else. "I chose the name because the whole song is about that feeling of being completely alive, confident, and unapologetically yourself," she says.
"'Energy' felt like the perfect word because it describes not just the sound of the song, but the attitude behind it."
She was careful not to let it get self-serious. "I wanted it to feel empowering without taking itself too seriously, like something that makes you want to turn the volume up, dance, and just have fun." The video honors that. There is no narrative arc, no breakup, no redemption beat. It is styling, movement, and a room with good lighting, which is exactly what a three-minute dance-pop record should get.
The track itself came from Marc E. Williams, president of Indasoul Entertainment. Williams recorded as M-Doc through the 1990s, signed to RCA and Smash Records, and charted with "Free" and "It's a Summer Thang" featuring Chantay Savage before building Indasoul into an artist development shop. He did not need the concept explained twice.
"Working with Marc was a really exciting part of bringing the song to life," Sarah says. "He understood the kind of energy I wanted the track to have and helped shape the production around that vision. I'm really grateful for his creativity and for everything he brought to the song."
What they landed on is upbeat pop with a heavy dance influence, built to hit fast. The instruction Sarah gave herself was to keep the production loud without letting it swallow her.
"I wanted the production to match the message of the song," she says. "Energetic, confident, and fun, while still keeping my vocals and personality at the centre."
The song was reverse-engineered from a feeling rather than from a hook. "The song started with the idea of creating something that people could genuinely have fun with. Once the concept of 'Energy' came together, everything developed around that feeling." The target, in her words, was "the feeling you get when you stop overthinking everything and just enjoy the moment."
"I love how different it feels from some of my previous releases," she says. "Every song I put out represents a different part of me, and 'Energy' really captures the more confident and playful side of my personality."
More is scheduled for the rest of the year, including live performances, and she is clear that the point is showing range rather than settling into a lane. "'Energy' is definitely not the end of what I have planned for this year."
For all the chains and the silver and the strobing glasses, the takeaway she wants is not aesthetic. "I'd love people to know that 'Energy' is more than just a song to dance to. It's a reminder to bring your own energy into whatever you do." She adds that she is still figuring out where the music goes next, and that the people watching matter more to her than the counts do.
"I hope when people hear 'Energy', they feel confident enough to turn it up, have fun, and be completely themselves."
Watch the "Energy" video here. Follow Chloe Sarah on Spotify and Instagram.
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