Cleo Alexandra “Taken By Desire”

In Cleo Alexandra’s new single “Taken By Desire,” we find the young artist wading into some new melodic territory. Her haunting melody draws on hints of RnB influence as she coos out her desperation and confusion surrounding an unfaithful lover. Behind her mounting anger, a fiendish arrangement of guitar struts, bass drum booms, and harrowing bells construct an atmosphere of wrathful reckoning for her former lover. The desolation mounts as Cleo layers leitmotifs until the track slowly fades back into the darkness.

In a dizzying back-and-forth of grain-filtered imagery, the video for “Taken By Desire” juxtaposes desire with rage. Director Harrison Woodhead captures Cleo caught between yearnings for her former lover as she rolls in anticipation on their bed, only to be whipped back into a dark alley of despair where she screams out her agony of betrayal. Interspersed with footage from the studio recording, we see Cleo can’t help but sing with passion no matter the performance space. If you’re in the ruts of relationship woes, know you’re not alone—and let Cleo Alexandra be the microphone to your fury.