September’s got a thankfully busy, yet quite conflicting release schedule coming up this autumn. On separate sides of the Atlantic.
In her native Sweden , she’s changing direction completely. For the new album, she’s been working with Jocke Berg of rock band Kent, and they’ve described her new sound as a cross between Coldplay, Florence & The Machine, and Depeche Mode. Respectively, we’re hoping that means a cross between ‘Viva La Vida’, the Calvin Harris remix of ‘Spectrum’, and Jamelia’s ‘Beware Of The Dog’ and/or Hilaryy Duff’s ‘Reach Out’. But it’s probably for the best we don’t hold our breath on that one. What’s more, she’s recording the album in Swedish rather than English. And if you’re thinking to yourself, “well that’s not a bloody September album“, that’s because technically it isn’t – she’ll be releasing it under her real name of Petra Marklund.
In America though, they’re keeping things familiar. Her US label Robbins Entertainment will be releasing a brand new single from her ‘Love CPR’ album. And they’re going with ‘Hands Up’. This is pleasing. ‘Hands Up’ is up there with the Jonas von der Burg tracks, plus ‘Heat Rising’ and ‘My Emergency’, as being one of the absolute highlights of the ‘Love CPR’ album. That intro drags you kicking and screaming right into clubland, and we love the very ‘hands up’ style that the chorus has of fading the beats out to give way to a euphoric vocal and synth. And then this in turn leads to a fabulously mental instrumental post-chorus. It still sounds fantastic over a year after Sweden first got the ‘Love CPR’ album.
We can’t help but feel this would have been a much more appropriate launch for the album outside of Sweden, as opposed to ‘Me & My Microphone’. Who knows – had it been released in the UK and the US initially and become a hit, we might all be gearing up for and getting excited about a new September album right about now, as opposed to warily looking forward to this new/debut Petra Marklund album. Still, at least the US are taking the ‘better late than never’ approach to it. So let’s see what happens.
‘Hands Up’ is produced by Niklas Bergwall, and written by Petra Marklund, Christian Fast, Didrik Thott, and Niklas Bergwall.
