With Every Heartbeat

"With Every Heartbeat"
Single by Robyn & Kleerup
from the album Robyn (international edition) and Kleerup
B-side	"Konichiwa Bitches"
Released	10 January 2007 (2007-01-10)
Format	CD single, 12" single, 7" single, digital download
Recorded	2006
Genre	Electropop, synthpop, Hi-NRG
Length	4:13
Label	Konichiwa
Writer(s)	Robyn, Andreas Kleerup
Producer(s)	Kleerup
Robyn singles chronology
"Konichiwa Bitches" (2007) "With Every Heartbeat" (2007) "Cobrastyle" (2008)
Robyn US singles chronology "Do You Really Want Me (Show Respect)" (1998) "With Every Heartbeat" (2008) "Handle Me" (2008) Kleerup chronology "With Every Heartbeat" (2007) "Longing for Lullabies" (2008) Alternative cover Swedish cover Music sample "With Every Heartbeat" Music video "With Every Heartbeat" on YouTube

"With Every Heartbeat" is a song by Swedish recording artist Robyn & Swedish producer Kleerup. It was released on 30 July 2007 in the United Kingdom as the second single from the international edition of Robyn's self-titled fourth studio album, Robyn. In Sweden the single was released on 10 January 2007 to promote Kleerup's self-titled debut album with him as the main artist.

The song peaked at number one in the United Kingdom and reached the top ten in Belgium, Denmark and the Netherlands. In the United States, where it was released as Robyn's first single since "Do You Really Want Me (Show Respect)" (1998), it peaked at number twenty-eight on Billboard's Hot Singles Sales chart.

Background and composition

"With Every Heartbeat" is an electropop ballad. The song runs for four minutes and thirteen seconds in its entire form. It is composed in the key of D major,^[1] and is set in common time.^[1] It has an unconventional pop song structure, with no distinct chorus. The song was composed in Kleerup's living room, where Robyn came up with the song's melody.^[2] The string parts were originally arranged by Carl Bagge using Sibelius.^[2]

A physical single was released in the UK on 6 August 2007. It was named as both Jo Whiley's and Scott Mills's "Record of the Week" and was A-Listed on BBC's Radio 1.^[2] Robyn performed the song live on Radio 1 during the Jo Whiley Show on 8 August 2007. It also received strong support by Popjustice, who later ranked the single as the best of 2007.^[3]

The song was released in the United States in January 2008. A remix version is also featured in the soundtrack of How to Lose Friends and Alienate People. It was also featured in the 2007 movie Boy A and the video game Grand Theft Auto V.

Reception

Digital Spy's Alex Fletcher gave the song four stars (out of five) and wrote "'With Every Heartbeat' is reminiscent of 90s dance tracks by the likes of Robert Miles. [...] The laid back, coffee-table friendly styling of the track calls to mind Moon Safari era Air, particularly their forgotten classic 'Kelly Watch The Stars'. While the lyrics may be devoid of any emotional clout, they tumble along pleasantly enough while the bleeps and glitches provided by Kleerup nurture your ears."^[4] Steve Perkins of BBC Chart Blog praised the song for its lack of a chorus, writing "when you peel this song apart, it's actually very cylical regardless: odd lines are repeated, but carefully chosen as if to reinforce the point that a new line just made. [...] There's a trembling quality to Robyn's voice in this song - as though she could fall apart at any moment but is keeping herself together by sheer force of will - which adds enormously to the fighting spirit of a song that is pessimistic without being bleak."^[5] Online music magazine Pitchfork Media placed the song at 46 on their Top 500 Tracks of the Decade list.^[6] In October 2011, NME placed it at number 30 on its list "150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years".^[7]

Music video

Two videos were filmed for the song. Kleerup's version shows assorted scenes of life in New York City, while Robyn's version shows the singer walking among colourful building blocks and board game pawns. Robyn wears her trademark neckscarf and tights, which change colour as the song progresses. The stop motion animation moves in sync with the music. The song pans out halfway through the video to reveal that Robyn is miniature and in fact on a desk in Kleerup's studio. On display in Kleerup's studio is a vinyl copy of Barbra Streisand's album Guilty. The video finishes with the blocks featured in the video tumbling down while Robyn runs away from them. This version of the video is a tribute to the animation of the highly respected late German artist Oskar Fischinger specifically his work entitled Komposition in Blau.

Covers

Athlete, The Hoosiers, and Girls Aloud have all covered the song on BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge on separate occasions. Girls Aloud released their version of the song as a B-side to their "Can't Speak French" single in early 2008 and they performed it in their live set for the Tangled Up Tour.

Rachel Hylton performed the song during the first week of the X Factor live shows in 2008.

Track listing

Personnel

• Music – Robyn, Andreas Kleerup
• Lyrics – Robyn
• Producer – Kleerup
• Violin – Johanna Tafvelin, Karin Liljenberg
• Viola – Ida Nyman
• Cello – Cecilia Linné
• Mixing – Eric Wikstroon, Andreas Kleerup
• Mastering – Björn Engelmann

Source:^[8]

Chart performance and sales

"With Every Heartbeat" was Robyn's biggest hit in the United Kingdom, where it became the first number one, second top ten, and fourth top forty hit of her career. The song charted inside the top five on downloads alone the week before the song's physical release. The song sold 270,000 copies in the UK as stated by the Official Charts Company and 224,000 copies in the US according to Billboard Biz.

Charts

Release history

In popular culture

"With Every Heartbeat" is featured in the in-game soundtrack of the video game Grand Theft Auto V on the Non-Stop-Pop FM radio station.

See also

• List of number-one singles from the 2000s (UK)

References

External links

• Full lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics