After a tempestuous afternoon that saw Hyde Park lashed by torrential rain and set times thrown into flux, it was Chloe Qisha who restored the calm — and then brought the fire — as she closed the Rainbow Stage on Sunday evening with a confident, emotionally astute set that proved worth the wait.
Chloe Qisha @ BST Hyde Park 2025
Following a weather-delayed performance from Miso Extra, the Malaysian-born, London-based alt-pop artist stepped into a golden-hour slot bathed in post-storm sunlight, framed by the glistening leaves of Hyde Park and a crowd still drying off but fully locked in. Despite the chaos earlier in the day, Qisha’s set felt like a reset — poised, stylish, and quietly commanding.
With 21st Century Cool Girl, the 26-year-old wasted no time asserting her signature brand of understated, razor-sharp pop. The track, a wry exploration of modern femininity wrapped in shimmering synths and laidback vocals, set the tone: this was music that observed as much as it confessed, effortlessly balancing edge and elegance.
It’s a sound Qisha has been steadily cultivating over the past two years, winning over critics and an increasingly loyal fanbase with her distinct fusion of indie-pop, R&B, and dreamlike electronica. Born in Malaysia and raised between cultures, Qisha’s music often grapples with identity, dislocation, and emotional honesty — themes that land all the more powerfully thanks to her lyrical precision and production finesse. After early buzz on TikTok and support slots with artists like Griff and Laufey, her recent EP Soft Armor marked a breakthrough moment, drawing comparisons to the likes of Arlo Parks, Beabadoobee, and Clairo, while firmly establishing her as a voice all her own.
Qisha is not a performer who demands attention — she earns it through a magnetic blend of dry humour, conversational charm, and deceptively intimate songwriting. Between songs, she spoke softly but purposefully, acknowledging the storm and thanking the audience for sticking around. “You’re all looking very waterproof and very iconic,” she quipped, drawing warm laughter.
Modern Romance, one of the set’s standouts, pulsed with subdued urgency — an indie-pop gem dissecting dating fatigue and digital disconnection with a sharp lyrical lens and airy production. As twilight settled over the park, her voice — cool, crystalline, and emotionally textured — felt especially resonant.
She followed-up with I Lied, I’m Sorry, a slow-burning ballad that pulled the crowd closer. Vulnerable yet self-aware, it showcased Qisha’s ability to distill complex emotional terrain into quietly devastating one-liners. Her vocal control — gently frayed at the edges, never overwrought — added a striking intimacy to the performance.
The Rainbow Stage might not boast the bombast of the nearby Great Oak Stage, where Sabrina Carpenter was commanding thousands later that evening, but Qisha’s set offered something altogether different — a kind of emotional exhale. Her music felt personal, like you’d stumbled into a private conversation and were better for having heard it.
Though her name may not yet carry the mainstream shine of Sunday’s headliner, Qisha’s performance had the air of a secret discovery — the kind of artist you see once on a secondary stage and later claim, proudly, “I saw her before she blew up.”
As she bowed out with a gracious thank you and no obvious encore, Chloe Qisha left the Rainbow Stage not with a bang, but with something better: an imprint. A moment of calm after the storm, full of subtle power, delicate grit, and serious pop promise.
Live review & photography of Chloe Qisha @ BST Hyde Park 2025, London by Kalpesh Patel on 6th July 2025.
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