While Estonia is probably the LAST place you’d expect an international club queen to hail from, 25 year old Kerli has been paving the way for her fellow Estonians since 2008 when she released her debut single, “Walking On Air,” followed by her debut album, Love Is Dead. Of course, until fairly recently, Americans have been a bit slow to catch on when it comes to hot dance club tunes from Europe so Kerli didn’t really ARRIVE here on the club scene until 2010 when the insanely infectious dance smash “Army Of Love” hit #1 on the Billboard Dance Club chart. Nearly two years later, Kerli is ready to take back the crown, releasing a new dance-tinged futuristic club jam called “Zero Gravity,” which is available to download now on iTunes (HERE).
“Zero Gravity” offers fans a first glimpse of what’s to come from her long awaited sophomore album, due out later this year on Island Records. While the song is certainly catchy, I’m a bit disappointed how dangerously David Guetta the production sounds. It’s a bit cookie cutter if you ask me. What I liked about Kerli‘s earlier music is the trippy, almost otherworldly nature it has. This sounds a bit too generic for my liking, but perhaps it will grow on me. According to the PR, the timing of the single’s release is perfect.
“The release of “Zero Gravity” coincides with the 2012 Winter Music Conference in Miami Beach, March 16-25th, which is highlighted by the 27th annual IDMAs (International Dance Music Awards). Kerli will be on hand for a number of IDMA events and promotions, culminating with her red carpet appearance on the day of the awards – Thursday, March 22nd – where she is also expected to present an IDMA.”
Ooh. This of course begs the question of WHAT exactly Kerli is going to wear on the Red Carpet? In any event, the single is definitely a promising tease of what’s to come from the album. Depending on how well the album is promoted here in America, I’d like to think Kerli can rise above the chart position of her last album, Love Is Dead. While it’s only natural that the album peaked at #1 in her native Estonia, it did surprisingly decent here in the States, peaking at #126 on the Billboard 200 chart. Not too shabby, Queen Kerli. Onward and upward!
Following the release of her debut album in 2008, Kerli was featured twice on the soundtrack album to Tim Burton‘s Almost Alice, with trippy dance-pop single “Tea Party,” as well as on a duet with Tokio Hotel called “Strange.” Burton apparently was drawn to Kerli after seeing a live performance of “Walking on Air” in the Fall of 2008 at the Scream Awards where he was being honored. Her performance featured fabulously eery visual effects and background characters inspired by Burton’s vast filmography. It’s no wonder Burton asked her to feature on his soundtrack! In addition to movie soundtracks, her cover of “Nature Boy” was featured on the 2011 season finale spots for CW hit show Smallville, and Kerli‘s music is continually featured on all versions of the hit dance reality show, So You Think You Can Dance.
In January of this year, Kerli announced a partnership with Buzznet.com, “the web’s largest social magazine written for youth by youth.” The partnership allowed for Kerli to communicate directly with her swiftly growing fan base through her own blog, kerli.buzznet.com. Social media is really working wonders as far as putting artists in touch with their fans, and this partnership sounds particularly fruitful for Kerli, especially as she prepares to release a new record.
Check out the new Alon Isocianu-directed music video (BELOW) for “Zero Gravity“, which premiered on VEVO.com today. In the video, Kerli channels everyone from Katy Perry in “E.T.” to a She-Ra like goddess figure, to Björk and even a little punky Rainbow Bright character complete with rainbow-colored dreads. Absolutely fabulous.
Download “Zero Gravity” on U.S. iTunes HERE and come back April 3rd for a special remix EP including a super sexy remix from Laidback Luke. Looks like Kerli is well on her way to landing her second Billboard #1.
Check out Kerli on the web: