British-Georgian singer Katie Melua is out with the new video to her new single "A Happy Place," the second release off her latest Chart Topping fourth album "The House," which is a real leap forward lyrically, musically and vocally. With lyrics expressing her dismay at the overwhelming pressures of 21st century life over strident strings and military percussion, The single "A Happy Place" is perfect evidence of the more mature Melua who is now, it sees Melua push on from her familiar sound to establish herself as an intelligent pop chanteuse. The new album "The House," is also adding plenty of stylistic strings to her bow."A Happy Place," isn't quite the modern masterpiece its predecessor "The Flood" was but the William Orbit produced track is definitely much better than "Nine Million Bicycles." What also stands out is the track's wonderful video. The bright and attention-grabbing outfit works wonderfully well with the dark undertones of the song. The video itself was filmed in a paternoster lift, which is constantly moving and as there are no doors, you just walk in and hop off when you want. The constant movement and one's inability to actually stop it represents the constant flow of life, don'tchaknow. Melua explains to the Sun: "It was about finding peace within yourself no matter how much life is flowing in the right or wrong direction." Melua definitely uses her creative juices for her music videos these days.
Plucked from music school obscurity by songwriter/producer Mike Batt, who'd been looking for a vocalist capable in both jazz and blues styles, Melua is already a hit in UK, and she's also made a dent in the European and Australian record charts, but hasn't yet had much of an impact in America. She hasn't yet felt the need to exploit her youth by showing off her lean and healthy frame. The sexiest thing about this young lady is still her smooth, sultry voice, and we don't expect to be seeing her writhing around in a music video displaying fresh breast implants any time soon. What I like most about Melua's new style is that she has simply evolved her music into something more grand and less irritating, not changing it and abandoning her old fans. And also she manages the all important feat of doing it while keeping her clothes on.
Dark, beautiful and grown-up it's the moment Melua starts being taken seriously. In what has to be one of the biggest musical turnarounds in recent history, Melua has quickly gone from being a snooze-worthy, low-key singer songwriter with vaguely annoying, sleepy songs to one of the most arty, interesting popstars of 2010. Whether the 25-year-old has finally grasped creative control of her work or her record company have realized quirky is really in these days, I'm certainly loving the new direction she's taken with album "The House."
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