"" (; ) is a song by Albanian singer and songwriter

Alban Ramosaj Alban Ramosaj (; born 7 March 1996) is an Albanian singer, songwriter and model. Born in Ede and raised in Tirana, he auditioned for ''The Voice of Albania'' in 2013 and emerged as the winner of the 22nd edition of in 2021. Life and career ...

. The song was written by Ramosaj and Fifi, while produced by Bruno. It was independently released as a

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

for digital download and

streaming Streaming media is multimedia that is delivered and consumed in a continuous manner from a source, with little or no intermediate storage in network elements. ''Streaming'' refers to the delivery method of content, rather than the content it ...

on 8 May 2021. Musically, it is a pop song backed by Albanian folk, Spanish flamenco, and Mediterranean components. The Albanian-language lyrics see Ramosaj singing about a perplexing and desperate romance he experienced in Spain. Some

music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on w ...

met the song with positive reviews, pointing out Ramosaj's vocal delivery and his visual interpretation. In late May 2021, Ramosaj participated with "" in the 22nd edition of and emerged victorious during the contest's final. An accompanying

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

, featuring Ramosaj's well-received performance at , was uploaded to his

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channel on 9 May. During his performance, the background

LED screen A LED display is a flat panel display that uses an array of light-emitting diodes as pixels for a video display. Their brightness allows them to be used outdoors where they are visible in the sun for store signs and billboards. In recent y ...

s displayed Andalusian-inspired imagery, creating a Mediterranean atmosphere.

Background and composition

For the completion of the song, Ramosaj hired the ThreeDots production team, with him contributing to the composition and lyrics of "" alongside Albanian singers Bruno and Fifi; Bruno also produced the song. ''Note: Open description for credits.'' In an interview, Ramosaj stated that the song dives into personal experiences and described it as "one of the most difficult songs to write". He further stated that, despite being mostly created in its composition and lyrics, the song had remained uncompleted for a year as a result of personal issues. Musically, "" is an Albanian-language pop track with a blend of Albanian folk, Spanish flamenco,

guitars The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

, and Mediterranean influences. Dedicated to a Spanish girl, "" lyrically touches on a perplexing and desperate romance, with the title, translated into English as "Knives of Mine", used as a metaphor to describe "anger, jealousy, possessiveness, and repressed" emotions.

Release and reception

Ramosaj independently released "" as a single for digital download and

in various countries on 8 May 2021. An accompanying

, featuring the singer's performance of the song during his presentation at , was uploaded to Ramosaj's

channel the following day on 9 May. Upon its release, the song received positive reviews from two

. Deban Aderemi, writing for ''

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'', thought that "when amosajbelts out those notes and beats his chest, you realise he isn't just unleashing anger and pain.". Aderemi further commended the singer's "stunning" performance, writing that "when he sings, he wears his heart on his sleeve, and transfixes his audience with his hypnotic eyes." "" was also celebrated by the staff of ''Illyrian Pirates'' as a "fantastic" song, highlighting Ramosaj's visual presentation and opining that it accompanies the track well, which, together with the Mediterranean-described setting, emphasises the song's lyrics.

Kënga Magjike

The 22nd edition of was organised by the Albanian broadcaster,

Televizioni Klan Televizioni Klan, also known as TV Klan, is an Albanian private television channel with national coverage, based in Tirana, Albania. History and profile TV Klan launched as a Franco-Albanian joint-venture, with its first broadcast airing on 25 ...

(TV Klan), and consisted of two semi-finals on 26 and 27 May, respectively, and the final on 29 May 2021. In accordance with the contest's tradition, "" was officially presented before the live shows of Kënga Magjike on the TV Klan's programme on 9 May 2021. During the grand final on 29 May, the singer emerged as the winner of the contest, receiving the highest number of points from the juries, participants, and public. Onstage, Ramosaj was accompanied by three instrumentalists and four backing vocalists. He performed in front of a red and orange coloured LED wall, while displaying an Andalusian architecture-described image. In a positive review from ''Illyrian Pirates'', the editor felt that the visuals created an Andalusian atmosphere, with the imagery reminding him of the

Court of the Lions The Court of the Lions ( es, Patio de los Leones; ar, بهو السباع) or Palace of the Lions ( es, Palacio de los Leones) is a palace in the heart of the Alhambra, a historic citadel formed by a complex of palaces, gardens and forts in Grana ...

in the Palace of Alhambra,

Granada Granada (,, DIN 31635, DIN: ; grc, Ἐλιβύργη, Elibýrgē; la, Illiberis or . ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the fo ...

, Spain.

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from

. *Alban Ramosajcomposing, songwriting, vocals *Brunoproducing *Fifisongwriting

Track listing

*Digital download #""2:49

Release history

References

{{Authority control 2021 singles 2021 songs Albanian-language songs Songs written by Fifi (singer) Kënga Magjike songs