"A Foreign Affair" is a song written and produced by Australian group

Client Liaison Client Liaison are an Australian indie pop duo made up of vocalist Monte Morgan, and keyboardist and producer Harvey Miller. The pair first came to prominence in 2012 after the release of their first music video "End of the Earth", and went on ...

, featuring

Tina Arena Filippina Lydia "Tina" Arena (born 1 November 1967) is an Australian singer-songwriter, musician, musical theatre actress and record producer. She is one of Australia's highest-selling artists and has sold over 10 million records worldwid ...

. The song was released on 30 August 2017 as the fourth and final single from Client Liaison's debut studio album ''

Diplomatic Immunity Diplomatic immunity is a principle of international law by which certain foreign government officials are recognized as having legal immunity from the jurisdiction of another country.

'' (2016). The video was released on 29 August 2017 with Arena saying "It's been a lot of fun working with Client Liaison, from recording the song last summer and to crashing their set at Splendour, this clip ties it all together nicely! Grab a gin & tonic and get ready for take-off." The song includes a lyrical allusion to Arena's own hit single "

Sorrento Moon "Sorrento Moon (I Remember)" is a song written by Australian singer Tina Arena, David Tyson, and Christopher Ward for Arena's second album, ''Don't Ask'' (1994). The song is about Arena's childhood memories of summers past with her family at Sor ...

". The Tim White directed video was nominated for Best Video at the

ARIA Music Awards of 2017 The 31st Annual Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (generally known as ARIA Music Awards or simply The ARIAs) are a series of award ceremonies which include the 2017 ARIA Artisan Awards, ARIA Hall of Fame Awards, ARIA Fine ...

, losing out to " Moments" by Bliss n Eso..ARIA Award previous winners. At the

J Awards of 2017 The J Award of 2017 is the thirteenth annual J Awards, established by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's youth-focused radio station Triple J. The announcement comes at the culmination of Ausmusic Month (November). For the fourth year, four ...

, the song won the Australian Video of the Year.

Background

Band member Monte Morgan told

The West Australian ''The West Australian'' is the only locally edited daily newspaper published in Perth, Western Australia. It is owned by Seven West Media (SWM), as is the state's other major newspaper, '' The Sunday Times''. It is the second-oldest continuous ...

it was during the writing of the song Tina Arena's "Sorrento Moon" was referenced with the lyric "as we kiss on the beach of Sorrento". "We developed the song and it had her style in it; the early 90s power ballad vibe". Morgan said he originally sang the entire song solo, but parts were "out of his register". Morgan has acknowledged that Client Liaison are "huge fans" of Arena and stated "Our manager actually reached out to her management and she came in and smashed it out in one take." In July 2017, the group announced the A Foreign Affair World Tour, which began in August 2017. In July 2017, Client Liaison were performing at

Splendour in the Grass Splendour in the Grass (commonly referred to as Splendour) is an annual Australian music festival held at the North Byron Parklands in Yelgun, New South Wales. Since its inauguration, the festival has also been held in various locations near ...

when Arena joined them on stage for a surprise performance of " Sorento Moon". A music video for the track was filmed the following week and the song released as a single on 30 August.

Reception

Kyle Butcher from ''

Tone Deaf Amusia is a musical disorder that appears mainly as a defect in processing pitch but also encompasses musical memory and recognition. Two main classifications of amusia exist: acquired amusia, which occurs as a result of brain damage, and c ...

'' said "Soft balladry casts the song back into the mid-1980s synth-pop that bred artists like

Eurogliders Eurogliders are a band formed in 1980 in Perth, Western Australia, which included Grace Knight on Singing, vocals, Bernie Lynch on guitar and vocals, and Amanda Villepastour, Amanda Vincent on keyboards. * First edition (online copy): * Secon ...

and

Pseudo Echo Pseudo Echo are an Australian new wave band that formed in 1982 by founding mainstay Brian Canham on vocals, guitar and keyboards. Other original members were Pierre Gigliotti (as Pierre Pierre) on bass keyboards and bass guitar, and Tony Lugt ...

, offering a chance for the melody and lyrics to tell the tale of a mile high foreign affair." Mushroom said " A Foreign Affair" isa sexy track saturated in '80s tropes. From the thick dance beat with that classic gated reverb to edgy bass synths and swirling synth pads, this song is everything you thought you'd never hear in 2017 – and it works." Zoë Radas from ''Stack'' magazine called the song "the best track" on the album.

Music video

The music video for the song was directed by Tim White and released on 29 August 2017. The video includes references to Australia’s former second airline

Ansett Australia Ansett Australia was a major Australian airline group, based in Melbourne, Australia. The airline flew domestically within Australia and from the 1990s to destinations in Asia. After operating for 65 years, the airline was placed into admini ...

, which collapsed in 2001, in a tribute to the '80s sounds and looks that influence their style. Zoë Radas from Stack magazine said the video is "sumptuous, hilarious and glowingly nostalgic all at once." Lucinda Price from Pedestrian said the video is "cinematically stunning".

Release history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Foreign Affair 2016 songs 2017 singles Client Liaison songs Tina Arena songs