British pop singer Natasha Bedingfield had a pocket full of sunshine, now she's back after a two-year hiatus with her phenomenal new video for "Touch," the Julian Bunetta and Steve Kipner co-production serves as first single from her upcoming fourth studio album "Strip Me," which she announced on her Twitter page earlier this month.Originally from New Zealand, and grew up in southeast London, the 29-year-old is straight out of the UK school of "pop" pop star: antipodean, Anglophile and enviably attractive. "I'm not interested in lines that go 'blah blah blah.' I want something that provokes me as well as the listener," she said. In the tradition of British female singer-songwriters Annie Lennox and Dido, Bedingfield brings lyrical honesty and vocal clarity to her music: not surprisingly, record buyers throughout Europe and beyond have responded to those qualities in droves.
The dance track starts off reminding us a lot of Temper Tramp's "Sweet Disposition." The verses seem a bit rambling, but the catchy chorus of "we danced, and we laughed, and we touched" wins us over. The song is quintessential Bedingfield. Even though it has conformed to the current dance/electropop trends, it has an upbeat, sunny melody with inspirational vocals that only Bedingfield seems able to pull off. The opening lyrics that mesh with the sequence of images above are, "I was trying to cross the street when I tripped and spilled my coffee on a man who yelled at me, then he walked off in a hurry. Now he's gunna be late for work, so he called his secretary, said to cancel his appointment with the guy in the lobby."
While I find all her music perfectly blends into the background, this one is notable because she has created her very own literal music video! Yes, Bedingfield has taken all the fun out of it for us by creating one herself. Directed by Rich Lee , the video sees Bedingfield singing in front of a projector screen that plays out the lyrics to the song with showing everyone being connected in some way, and with some grainy film footage intercut of people enjoying life. All of which plays out in the most literal way possible, while the train of thought lyrics also call to mind the "In Living Color" spoof on Tracy Chapman.
2010 is all about electrosynths, and Bedingfield definitely knows so. "Touch" is quite a shift from her previous albums, delving more into danceable instrumentals. Actually, the verses are nothing special, but once "Touch" gets to the chorus, Bedingfield's amazing vocal prowess emerges in its full glory and it's so amazingly uplifting that I'm tempted to cut out the chorus and put it on loop for eternity. It almost makes up for the rap-ish verses, but all in all "Touch" is a great track that's keen on keeping our interest until the release of the album, which I hope will be soon because this new direction Bedingfield is headed has smash potential.
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