While debut single, “Beat Of My Drum” might not have been the chart smash everyone was hoping for, Nicola Roberts is wasting no time in getting together her follow up. Whereas the Diplo-produced “Beat Of My Drum” was a bit more unconventional as far as commercial pop goes, delving into dubstep territory, new single “Lucky Day” (which premiered just this afternoon on BBC Radio 1) has Roberts doing a complete 180. The song is bubbly fun electropop at it’s very best, even channeling a little bit of Kylie Minogue in parts. Co-written by Roberts and Canadian electropop band Dragonette, “Lucky Day” is one of the first songs Nicola wrote after going solo. According to Roberts,
“Dragonette were the first people I worked with when starting my album. When I wrote Lucky Day I had short hair and was really into 40s fashion. All of the ‘woah woah woah woah’ and the ‘ah ha’ really is a reflection of that,” explains Nicola. “When it came to producing the track early this year, I wanted to change it to a more modern downbeat dance record because that’s what I am more into now.”
I think it’s a wise decision to go for a more conventional pop sound this time around, as Nicola should have no problems at all performing this one live. “Beat of My Drum” is a bit more all over the place musically speaking and involves a lot more technical effects that are hard to incorporate into a live performance. While Roberts certainly held her own for the most part during live appearances, there was always a bit of awkwardness whenever there were no vocals to sing. “Lucky Day” is a lot more musically straightforward, lending itself perfectly to Roberts’ undeniable singing talent. A video for the single has already been shot in New York City, directed by Stephen Agnew (White Lies, The Vaccines), the concept for which came from Nicola herself, inspired by Grandmaster Flash‘s “The Message” video. Considering how lackluster her last video was, the “Lucky Day” video really needs to take it to the next level.
“Lucky Day” is due out September 18th, just before Nicola’s debut solo album Cinderella’s Eyes (Polydor) is scheduled for release on September 26th. The album features collaborations with Dimitri Tikovoi, Diplo, Metronomy, Invisible Men and more and was co-written almost entirely by Nicola herself. “Beat Of My Drum” was released June 5th 2011 and managed to peak at #27 on the UK Singles chart, #26 on the Scottish Singles chart and #37 in Ireland. The single featured remixes from Loverush UK!, Pictureplanes and KC Blitz. Download “Beat Of My Drum” on UK iTunes HERE. Listen to a snippet of “Lucky Day” below.