"Starlight" is a song by British singer-songwriter
Matt Cardle
Matthew Sheridan Cardle (born 15 April 1983) is an English pop singer. He was born in Southampton and grew up in Halstead, Essex. Cardle has been involved in music since his early teens and has been a member of two different bands; Darwyn and S ...
. It was written by Matt Cardle, Ash Howes,
Richard Stannard and Seton Daunt. It was released in the UK as the second single from his debut studio album, ''
Letters
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Characters typeface
* Letter (alphabet), a character representing one or more of the sounds used in speech; any of the symbols of an alphabet.
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'' on 4 December 2011.
Background
The song was co-written between Matt Cardle, Ash Howes, producer
Richard Stannard and mixer Seton Daunt. It was one of the first songs that Cardle wrote for the album. Despite expressing his wishes at releasing "Starlight" as the album's single, its release was postponed in favour of "Run for Your Life". The single eventually received an official release on 4 December 2011. The only digital format of the single, a two-track remix bundle, managed to peak at number 2 on the UK Club Singles Chart, however the official single only entered the
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
at number 185. The single failed to chart on the
Irish Singles Chart
The Irish Singles Chart is the Republic of Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA) and compiled on their behalf by the Official Charts Company. Chart rankings are bas ...
.
Critical reception
Lewis Corner of
Digital Spy
Digital Spy (DS) is a British-based entertainment, television and film website and brand and is the largest digital property at Hearst UK. Since its launch in 1999, Digital Spy has focused on entertainment news related to television programmes, ...
gave the song a positive review stating: "Luckily for Cardle, it's infinitely better than his Take That reject last effort. "It wouldn't matter if we died tonight/ We are beautiful," he proclaims over a rousing combo of weighty beats and soaring guitar riffs breezier than the top of the Blackpool tower, before unleashing his impressive vocal talents on the chorus. The result is easily his strongest offering to date, so fingers crossed it's not all in vain."
The Mirror was also favourable, saying "Like a phoenix from the ashes, perhaps it’s not quite over yet for Matt Cardle.". Unreality Shout said "There’s an pleasant enough production at work here, with meaty guitars backed up by a thumping piano chime, and there’s an almost tangible sense of optimistic anticipation for the chorus. When the chorus arrives, the tightly rounded verse structure is thrown up into the air with the arrival of raucous guitars and a soaring vocal from Cardle, but he takes his time getting the stride right."
Music video
A music video to accompany the release of "Starlight" was first released onto YouTube on 2 November 2011, at a total length of three minutes and forty-eight seconds. The video features Cardle and an entourage of fans performing the song in and around a disused cargo port. The final scene shows the entire cast of the video gathered around Cardle, whilst an array of Fireworks are let off in the distance.
Live performances and other media usage
Cardle performed "Starlight" on T4 Stars Live on 9 December 2011 and again for the ''
Hollyoaks
''Hollyoaks'' is a British soap opera which began airing on Channel 4 on 23 October 1995. It was created by Phil Redmond, who had previously conceived the soap opera ''Brookside (TV series), Brookside''. Since 2005, episodes have been aired on ...
'' Christmas special. In Ireland he performed the song on ''
The Late Late Show'' on 4 November 2011 with a different band than he normally plays with.
The song appeared in the soundtrack for 2012 movie ''
Fast Girls''. It was also used in the trailer for 2012 movie ''
Best Exotic Marigold Hotel''.
Track listing
* Digital download
# "Starlight" – 4:18
# "Starlight" (Music Video) – 3:41
* Digital download – Remix single
# "Starlight" (The Alias Remix Edit) – 3:50
# "Starlight" (The Alias Club Remix) – 6:10
* CD single
# "Starlight" (Radio Edit) – 3:41
# "Starlight" (Instrumental Version) – 4:18
Chart performance
Release history
References
{{Matt Cardle
2011 singles
Songs written by Richard Stannard (songwriter)
Songs written by Ash Howes
Songs written by Matt Cardle
Matt Cardle songs
2011 songs
Syco Music singles
Songs written by Seton Daunt