Belle is back to rescue all of us from this dull, dark winter, with her usual brand of technicolour pop!
The Swedish sweet releases new single ‘Spellbound’ in BeNeLux this weekend, February 5th. And despite being huge fans of her previous singles, we already think that this may well actually be our favourite one yet! It’s a three minute club trojan, with a warm schlager heart. Very dance, but oh so pop too. And we have to say, that despite its sugar coated exterior, inside it lies one of the most cleverly crafted pop melodies we’ve heard all year.
The chorus has got a ”oh-oh-oh” riff that runs through it, repeated four times in each chorus, and is so catchy because of it. But also within the chorus is a brief shift in melody towards a few lines that actually sound like they could be from a different song’s chorus entirely. At first you actually think it’s a post chorus section, but then the familiar chorus comes back again, and you realise it never stopped in the first place! And it works brilliantly. Then in the verses, the song has this genius ”check” element that is repeated at the end of the first few lines. And not only does it make the song sound good, it also matches the lyrics wonderfully as well, contributing to a whole new dimension to them. AND THEN, there’s also the middle eight. It’s a complete breakdown, sounding unlike any other part of the song, again like it could be from a whole other song. The synths also add a huge amount of drama to everything, which again matches the lyrics – as in the middle eight, she sings about finally having a showdown with this guy, one that’s been building throughout the entire song. And finally, we’re treated to a huge key change before the chorus.
As for the lyrics, well they’re so much fun, but also so very clever too. They brilliantly paint a picture of lovestruck stalkerdom, using Facebook, brunch meetings, harassment, withcraft, and magic amongst other things. But the best part is again in the middle eight, during the showdown. But we won’t spoil the surprise of what happens in the song’s story, listen to it for yourself!
‘Spellbound’ was composed by Niklas Pettersson, Jonas Liberg, and Linda Sonnvik (Niklas and Linda also being behind Dilba’s entry to Melodifestivalen 2011, ‘Try Again’). And if you’re fairly new to this site, and haven’t heard of Belle before, then you really must check out some of her previous stuff – especially ‘Sound Of Summer‘ and ‘Mister Mister‘. We adore her for making this brand of bubblegum dance pop that not many others seem to want to do anymore. ‘Spellbound’ gets an international release soon, and remixes will be coming out later this month.
But now for the best bit!
Belle has given scandipop the exclusive rights to stream the new single ‘Spellbound’ ahead of its release, and you can listen to it in its full and fabulous entirity below!
[audio:http://lowculture.co.uk/scandi/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/01.-Belle-Spellbound-radio-mix.mp3|titles=01. Belle – Spellbound (radio mix)]Finally, check back here on Saturday on its day of release, as we’ll be posting a link to where scandipop readers can download the song for a specially discounted price.
