"Balans" is a song recorded by Romanian recording artist Alexandra Stan for her third studio album, ''

Alesta ''Alesta'' is the third studio album recorded by Romanian recording artist Alexandra Stan. It was released both digitally and physically on 9 March 2016 through Victor Entertainment as a follow-up to '' Unlocked'' (2014). To achieve her desir ...

'' (2016). Released on 2 March 2016 through Global Records, the track features the vocal collaboration of

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

- Congolese singer-songwriter

Mohombi Mohombi Nzasi Moupondo (born 17 October 1986) is a Congolese-Swedish musician, singer, composer and dancer. He grew up in Norsborg and Kista near Stockholm. Mohombi was RedOne's first signing to 2101 Records in joint venture with Universal Mu ...

. "Balans" was produced by

Play & Win Marco & Seba, previously known as Play & Win are a Romanian singer-songwriter and music production duo formed in 2000 by Radu Bolfea, Marcel Botezan and Sebastian Barac. Since then, they have been making music without Bolfea. They are a leading ...

members Sebastian Barac and Marcel Botezan, while the writing process was handled by the latter two in collaboration with Mohombi and Breyan Isaac. A

dance-pop Dance-pop is a popular music subgenre that originated in the late 1970s to early 1980s. It is generally uptempo music intended for nightclubs with the intention of being danceable but also suitable for contemporary hit radio. Developing from a ...

song incorporating

tropical music Tropical music ( es, música tropical) is a term in the Latin music, Latin music industry that refers to music genres deriving from or influenced by the Spanish-speaking areas of the Caribbean. It includes the islands of Music of Cuba, Cuba, Music ...

and

Latin music Latin music (Portuguese language, Portuguese and es, música latina) is a term used by the music industry as a catch-all category for various styles of music from Ibero-America (including Music of Spain, Spain and Portuguese music, Portugal) ...

influences into its sound, the recording was compared by critics to the works of fellow Romanian female singer

Inna Elena Alexandra Apostoleanu (born 16 October 1986), known professionally as Inna (stylized in all caps), is a Romanian singer. Born in Mangalia and raised in Neptun, she studied political science at Ovidius University before meeting the Roma ...

. An official music video for "Balans" was shot by Anton San and was uploaded on 9 March 2016 onto YouTube to accompany the single's release. It portrays both Stan and Mohombi being present at a party held in a hall filled halfway by water. Following its release, the song received a mixed review by ''RnB Junk''; they commended the collaboration, but criticized its lack of innovation and formulaic production. Commercially, the song peaked in Japan, Portugal and Russia.

Background and reception

"Balans", the third single released from Stan's third record, ''Alesta'' (2016), was written by

members Sebastian Barac and Marcel Botezan, Mohombi and Breyan Isaac, while production was handled by both Barac and Botezan. The artwork used to commercialize the track in Japan was a photograph picked up from the photo shooting for her album, while the international cover sees Stan and Mohombi sporting the outfits from the official music video. The track is an up-tempo

song, which includes musical elements of

and

latin music Latin music (Portuguese language, Portuguese and es, música latina) is a term used by the music industry as a catch-all category for various styles of music from Ibero-America (including Music of Spain, Spain and Portuguese music, Portugal) ...

. Upon its release, the recording received a mixed review from Italian publication ''Rnb Junk'' writer Umberto Olivio, who commended that the song resembles the works of fellow Romanian female singer

. He went on into praising Stan's collaboration with

, but also saying that the "formula" for the recording was "nothing innovative", with him describing the track as "quite obvious". Olivio as well named "the level of palatability" of the tune "a lot weaker than the other songs from ''Alesta''", and denied the possible success of the track in mainstream clubs.

Promotion and music video

Stan included "Balans" on the setlist for her Japanese one-week concert tours that promoted the release of her studio album, ''Alesta'', in that territory. Stan performed an acoustic version of the song on Romanian radio station

Pro FM Pro FM is a radio station in Romania and Moldova, it broadcasts in Romanian language. It was sold by Central European Media Enterprises to RCS & RDS Digi Communications, also known as RCS & RDS, is a Romanian telecommunication holding company ...

. After this, she had also performed a live acoustic version of " Be the One" by English recording artist

Dua Lipa Dua Lipa ( , ; born ) is an English and Albanian singer and songwriter. Possessing a mezzo-soprano vocal range, she is known for her signature disco- pop sound. Lipa has received numerous accolades, including six Brit Awards, three Gramm ...

. An accompanying music video for "Balans" was directed by Anton San and released onto Stan's YouTube channel on 2 March 2016; by May 2016, the clip amassed over one million views. The clip was filmed in an abandoned warehouse or a polygon where the inside temperature was of 6 °C. About the video, Stan particularly confessed that " tis very dinamic and colored, the way that the life of a pop artist looks like." The clip commences with Stan standing on a pickup, with fellow background dancers being present inside the car. Following their leaving, she looks from above at a partying crowd in a hall, which appears to be halfway filled with water, while sporting pink and red clothing. Subsequently, Stan is displayed dressing a pink

fur coat Fur clothing is clothing made from the preserved skins of mammals. Fur is one of the oldest forms of clothing, and is thought to have been widely used by people for at least 120,000 years. The term 'fur' is often used to refer to a specific i ...

and pants, while walking in the surroundings and finally discovering Mohombi. Following this, he provides his singing part when flirting with Stan, with her dancing around him. Following this, the crowd is once again shown dancing together to the song, and the clip closes with Stan being left alone in the room. Scenes interspersed through the main video show her posing in front of a blue wall or her lying atop the pickup car, with her head being placed on a golden purse. Italian publication ''RnB Junk'' writer, Umberto Olivio, criticized the clip for not having a plot and for being "unrealistic".

Track listing

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of ''Alesta''. ;Vocal credits *Alexandra Stan – lead vocals *Mohombi – featured artist ;Technical and songwriting credits *Sebastian Barac – songwriter, producer *Marcel Botezan – songwriter, producer *Mohombi Nzasi Moupondo – songwriter *Breyan Isaac – songwriter ;Visual credits *Anton San – director, director of photography *Bogdan Filip – director of photography *Claudiu Sarghe –

hair styling A hairstyle, hairdo, haircut or coiffure refers to the styling of hair, usually on the human scalp. Sometimes, this could also mean an editing of facial or body hair. The fashioning of hair can be considered an aspect of personal groomin ...

*Razvan Firea – styling *Marius Ferascu – styling

Charts

Certifications

Release history

References

External links

Alexandra Stan's official websiteMohombi's official website
{{authority control 2016 songs Alexandra Stan songs Mohombi songs Tropical songs Songs written by Mohombi Song recordings produced by Play & Win Songs written by Breyan Isaac