German/Dutch dance diva Amber is back with a new single! Finally! I remember Amber from her big hit, “This Is Your Night” when it came out back in 1996/1997. I also remember “One More Night,” and “Colour of Love” from that first album – back when Amber was signed to Tommy Boy Records. Her self-titled follow-up album, Naked featured singles “Love One Another,” “Above The Clouds,” and my favorite “Sexual (Li Da Di).” Oh…don’t forget about “If You Could Read My Mind” from the Studio 54 movie soundtrack, featuring Ultra Naté and Jocelyn Enriquez. Her final album with Tommy Boy featured less dance and more pop and included singles like “Yes!,” “The Need To Be Naked,” and “Anyway (Men Are From Mars).”
Photo via MySpace by D’Andre Michael
Photo via MySpace by D’Andre Michael After Naked, Amber parted ways with Tommy Boy – releasing her next album, My Kind Of World, 2 years later on her own label. Singles “You Move Me,” “Voodoo,” and “Just Like That” experienced less mainstream success then some of her Tommy Boy material – but attracted much-deserved attention at the clubs.
Photo via MySpace by D’Andre Michael
Between 2006 and 2008, Amber released the dance track “Melt With The Sun,” with remixes from Tracy Young, Hex Hector and others. She released Undanced II in 2007 with some unreleased remixes and songs. Because of some legal distribution issues “This Is Your Night” and other Tommy Boy era singles have not been released digitally, so Amber re-released a bunch of her old songs with re-recorded vocals and new production. I hope Tommy Boy and Amber work out their differences…because there are a lot of classic mixes that I’m dying for. I suppose I could buy the physical copies on ebay…but come on!
Amber & Zelma Davis
Last year saw the release of the Amber/Zelma Davis collaboration, “No More Tears (Enough Is Enough),” originally done by Donna Summer & Barbara Streisand (I got my copy at Perfect Beat!). This past Tuesday, Amber’s newest single “I Don’t Believe In Hate (Drip Drop)” was released digitally and on a limited edition CD. Remixes are by Pathos V2 and Yinon Yahel. I have to say…the song in it’s original form is beautifully sung. Amber’s vocal strength is undeniable. In all honesty, I prefer the remix edits to the original. The Pathos V2 edit is my favorite, although the Yinon Yahel full length mix is beautiful. What do you all think of Amber’s new single?