"Burn" is a song by English recording artist Ellie Goulding from Halcyon Days (2013), the reissue of her second studio album, Halcyon (2012). The song was written by Ryan Tedder, Goulding, Greg Kurstin, Noel Zancanella and Brent Kutzle, while production was handled by Kurstin and vocal production was done by Tedder. It was released on 5 July 2013 as the lead single from the reissue.
Upon its release, "Burn" was met with a mixed response from music critics, who praised it as "catchy" and noted it as one of Goulding's most radio-friendly songs to date, while others felt it was not memorable. It earned Goulding her first number-one single on the UK Singles Chart, selling 116,857 copies in its first week and staying atop the chart for three consecutive weeks. The track attained similar success internationally, reaching the top ten in countries such as Australia, Austria, Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand and Sweden, as well as number thirteen on the Billboard Hot 100, making it Goulding's third single to reach the top twenty on the chart. "Burn" was nominated for British Single of the Year and British Video of the Year at the 2014 BRIT Awards
Background [rocyoufm]
"Burn" was originally recorded by English recording artist Leona Lewis for her third studio album, Glassheart (2012), but it was eventually omitted from the final track listing. According to Jacques Peterson of Popdust, "While Ellie's 'Burn' is a little more indie-pop sounding, Leona's breaks into derivative tropical synths on the second verse in an obvious attempt to match the Stargate sound that was such a popular radio staple a few years ago."
Critical reception [rocyoufm]
"Burn" has received mixed to positive reviews from music critics. Sam Lansky of Idolator wrote that, compared to Lewis's original version, Goulding's "distinctive" voice makes the song "trippier and more ethereal, but the commercial songcraft makes it radio candy—maybe the most mainstream single she's had since 'Lights.'" Lewis Corner of Digital Spy, giving the track four out of five stars, opined that Goulding "presents what is most likely to go down as one of her more radio-friendly singles to date", adding that her voice "also glides above the dream-pop glow to ear-pleasing effect".
Despite praising Goulding's vocals as "angelic and ethereal", Amy Sciarretto of PopCrush rated the song three out of five stars, stating, "While 'Burn' is undeniably catchy, it's not the singer's most memorable track to date." Sciarretto concluded that it "doesn't sound like the pivotal track which will elevate her career even further in the mainstream radio world, but her fans will no doubt love it." Rolling Stone's Joe Gross gave "Burn" two and a half out of five stars and dubbed it "a completely inoffensive slice of hands-in-the-air British pop; you can expect it to show up on So You Think You Can Dance before it burns out."
Commercial performance [rocyoufm]
"Burn" debuted atop the UK Singles Chart with first-week sales of 116,857 copies, becoming Goulding's first number-one single on the chart. The single retained the number-one position for two additional weeks, selling 80,095 and 62,270 copies in its second and third weeks, respectively. In its fourth week, the song was knocked off the top spot by Katy Perry's "Roar", falling to number two with 51,924 units sold. "Burn" was the fifteenth best-selling single of 2013 in UK, as well as the best-selling single by a British female artist that year. The song debuted and peaked at number two on the Irish Singles Chart, earning Goulding her highest-peaking single in Ireland to date.
In the United States, "Burn" entered the Billboard Hot 100 at number fifty-three, selling 82,000 copies in its first week. The song peaked at number thirteen on the issue dated 28 December 2013, becoming Goulding's second highest-peaking single on the Hot 100 after "Lights". It also became Goulding's second number-one single on Billboard's Dance/Mix Show Airplay chart, following "Lights". The single had sold over a million copies in the US as of January 2014. "Burn" was commercially successful across continental Europe, where it topped the charts in Hungary, Italy and Slovakia, while reaching the top five in Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Norway, Poland, Sweden and Switzerland, and the top ten in France, Netherlands and Spain.
The song debuted on the Australian Singles Chart at number seventy-two, before entering the top fifty at number fourteen. It peaked at number six in its fifth week on the chart, Goulding's highest-charting solo single in the country. Two weeks later, "Burn" was certified platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) for sales of 70,000 copies, and on 7 October 2013, it was certified double platinum, denoting sales in excess of 140,000 units. The track debuted and peaked at number seven on the New Zealand Singles Chart, and was certified gold by Recorded Music NZ in its fifth week on the chart.
Music video [rocyoufm]
An accompanying music video for the song, which premiered on 7 July 2013, portrays Goulding performing on an air field, and later being joined by her friends with lights in the evening.
The video starts with an orange colour scheme of Goulding singing with friends and solar flares shining upon their movements with some smoke. The video also features a lot of people running and with Goulding wearing a hood. Later, Goulding is seen in a gigantic field with hundreds of lights and the video ends with flares and more dancing with a much larger amount of dancers with a scene with a red color scheme. In the end, the lights make Goulding's logo in the field.
No comments:
Post a Comment