"Elevator Girl" is a song by Japanese heavy metal band
Babymetal
(stylized in all caps) is a Japanese kawaii metal band consisting of Suzuka Nakamoto as "Su-metal" and Moa Kikuchi as "Moametal". The band is produced by Kobametal from the Amuse talent agency. Their vocals are backed by heavy metal instrume ...
. It was first released as a digital single on May 10, 2019 worldwide by Babymetal Records, and the third single released for the band's third album ''
Metal Galaxy''. An English version of the song had a release on August 16, 2019, sent to active rock radio with a music video.
Background and release
"Elevator Girl" was first performed on the Babymetal World Tour 2018, on May 8, 2018. On April 23, 2019, the song was announced for release as a digital single worldwide on May 10, 2019, in conjunction with the reveal of several shows to be performed later in the year.
According to
Su-metal, "Elevator Girl" symbolizes the band's evolution of kawaii and metal fusion as the band members mature into adults, and is planned to appear in the band's next album, ''Metal Galaxy''. The song shows the "mature" side of Babymetal, as quoted.
Composition
"Elevator Girl" gets inspiration from
drum and bass, containing elements of the genre in the intro, and transitioning into a heavier sound. With lyrics such as “No matter what you say, or what you do / You’re going d-d-d-d-d-down”, the song is sung mainly in English. The song is composed of "riffy undertones" and "cutesy vocal harmonies" in a major key, and, as described by Joe Divite of ''Loudwire'', switches between "fast beats with delicate, minimalist piano bits" and "crunching metallic distortion that embraces the frantic nature of the electronic elements".
Reception
Axl Rosenberg of ''
MetalSucks'' described "Elevator Girl" as "unusual", calling the song "the first-ever metal song about a mentally unstable
elevator operator
An elevator operator (North American English), liftman (in Commonwealth English, usually lift attendant), or lift girl (in British English), is a person specifically employed to operate a manually operated elevator.
Description
Being an effec ...
", but noting the song doesn't "
ackany of the elements which made us fans in the first place", even after the departure of
Yuimetal
is a Japanese musician, singer, model, and actress. She is a former member of the kawaii metal group Babymetal and the idol group Sakura Gakuin. In October 2018, she left Babymetal due to an undisclosed illness. She is managed by the Amuse, Inc. ...
.
"Elevator Girl" peaked on the Oricon Digital Singles daily chart on May 10, 2019, at number two, with digital sales of 6,284 units.
The song peaked on the weekly chart on May 20, 2019 at number 13, with first-week sales of 8,414 equivalent units.
"Elevator Girl" debuted at number 42 on the
''Billboard Japan'' Hot 100 on May 20, 2019, with 1,069 equivalent units in the first week, later peaking at number 38 the following week.
The song also peaked at number four on the ''Billboard'' World Digital Songs chart on the week of May 25, 2019.
Track listing
Digital download
* "Elevator Girl" – 2:44
UK Digital EP
# "Elevator Girl" – 2:44
# "
Starlight" – 3:37
# "
Distortion
In signal processing, distortion is the alteration of the original shape (or other characteristic) of a signal. In communications and electronics it means the alteration of the waveform of an information-bearing signal, such as an audio signa ...
" – 3:05
Charts
Release history
References
External links
Babymetal discographyat Toy's Factory
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Babymetal songs
2019 singles
2018 songs
Macaronic songs