Jean Ryden Unveils Debut Single 'Chlorine'

Rising artist, songwriter and producer Jean Ryden unveils her cinematic debut single, “Chlorine,” today. The track, self-written and co-produced, uses imagistic lyrics and a string-laden arrangement to examine grief and Ryden’s longing for alternate timelines to take hold.

Of the song, Ryden shares:
“During the process of writing this project I spent a lot of time in solitude, playing my piano in my apartment, going on a lot of walks in my neighborhood. On these walks I would hear dinner parties—the clanking of dishes and silverware—or kids playing, thrashing around in a pool I couldn’t see covered by hedges. I would get whiffs of smells that transported me back to my childhood: fresh cut grass, the blooming of flowers, and the smell of chlorine.

I would go home and make dinner for myself, and the feelings of isolation and loss were ever apparent. Specifically, the smell of chlorine has always evoked a range of emotions. 
On one hand I have pleasant memories of swimming, coming out of the pool, my lips purple from the cold, my mom making tea from the herbs in the garden. And on the other, it reminds me of losing her.

The morning of my mom’s death I stayed home from school, and we went on a walk. I was supposed to join her for a swim, but I needed to change into a swimsuit. My mom went to go swim and I went to meet her a few minutes later. It’s hard for me not to reflect on that day and wonder what would have happened had I made her wait for me to change, if we had just walked a little longer. This song is a tribute to her. She shared with me the gift of music and enough love to last me a lifetime.”  

The visual for “Chlorine” was conceptualized and co-directed by Ryden. The video uses footage recently shot at her late mother’s childhood home, intercutting bits of home movies with images of a young Ryden surveying a place crucial to her past.

“‘Chlorine’ for me conjures up a lot of different feelings,” Ryden says. “I associate it with fond memories of childhood, playing in the pool, but also with one of the worst days of my life.” This introduces the overarching visual narrative that will accompany Ryden’s forthcoming music, which she has built alongside close creative collaborators Angela Ricciardi and Silken Weinberg (Ethel Cain, Albert Hammond Jr). 

The Los Angeles-based artist began studying music at age three, when she started cello lessons as a child on Long Island. Music had long been in her family. Her maternal grandparents were founding members of the Long Island Philharmonic; her grandfather on her mother’s side was a session violinist who had played with Stevie Nicks and Chet Baker and her grandmother, Jean Ryden Eley, is the inspiration for her artist persona.

Ryden’s Julliard-trained mother passed on the family’s passion for music to Ryden, instilling a two-hours-a-day practice habit in her daughter. 

Ryden’s early training, combined with her study of producers like Rostam, James Blake, and Sufjan Stevens, and lyrical influences Elliott Smith and Regina Spektor and Mitski, inform her classic pop songwriting and meticulous production. More from Ryden is imminent. 

Photo credit:  Angela Ricciardi & Silken Weinberg

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