"To Love Again" is the first single from a re-release of

Alesha Dixon Alesha Anjanette Dixon (born 7 October 1978) is an English singer, rapper, dancer, television personality, and author. She gained recognition in the early 2000s as a member of the R&B, garage and hip hop group Mis-Teeq. The group disbanded in ...

's second album, ''

The Alesha Show ''The Alesha Show'' is the second studio album by English singer Alesha Dixon. It was released by Asylum Records on 24 November 2008 in the United Kingdom. Her first album to be released domestically following the cancellation of her debut album ...

'', entitled ''The Alesha Show - Encore'' released by

Asylum Records Asylum Records is an American record label, founded in 1971 by David Geffen and partner Elliot Roberts. It was taken over by Warner Communications (now the Warner Music Group) in 1972, and later merged with Elektra Records to become Elektra/As ...

. The song is produced by

John Shanks John Matthew Shanks (born December 18, 1964) is an American songwriter, record producer and guitarist. Early life and education John Matthew Shanks was born in New York City. Shanks moved to Los Angeles when he was 17 years old. He was in a ban ...

and written by

Gary Barlow Gary Barlow (born 20 January 1971) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, and television personality. He is the lead singer of the British pop group Take That. Barlow is one of the United Kingdom's most successful songwriters, havi ...

, and is one of four new tracks that appears on the re-release. Bimbo Jones has done a club remix for the song. The first week sales raised from the song were donated to Children in Need.

Background

Dixon and Barlow met in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

with

and penned the song within the day. Dixon wrote the lyrics about recovering from her divorce with

MC Harvey Michael Harvey Jr. (born 1 May 1979), better known as MC Harvey or simply Harvey, is a British rapper. He first came to fame in the early 2000s as a member of rap group So Solid Crew before then pursuing a solo career in 2008. In 2012, he was ...

a few years previously. Dixon praised Barlow, describing him as a "genius" and explained the reason for creating the track together; "We've become really good friends since going up the mountain together for

Comic Relief Comic relief is the inclusion of a humorous character, scene, or witty dialogue in an otherwise serious work, often to relieve tension. Definition Comic relief usually means a releasing of emotional or other tension resulting from a comic episo ...

. He is a genius so it was an absolute honour to write the song with him."

Composition

"To Love Again" is a R&B influenced

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

that lasts 3 minutes and 51 seconds. The song consists of 67

beats per minute Beat, beats or beating may refer to: Common uses * Patrol, or beat, a group of personnel assigned to monitor a specific area ** Beat (police), the territory that a police officer patrols ** Gay beat, an area frequented by gay men * Battery ( ...

; a moderate

tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (often ...

. The instruments primarily used throughout the song are the

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

and the

guitar 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 ...

. The song is written in the key of

A minor A minor is a minor scale based on A, with the pitches A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. Its key signature has no flats and no sharps. Its relative major is C major and its parallel major is A major. The A natural minor scale is: : Changes ...

and Dixon's vocal range spans from F₃ to C₅. Fraser McAlpine of the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

commented that "it's a plaintive ballad, which starts kind of small and intimate and ends kind of huge and expanded ..It sounds for all the world like a classic

ballad - a slower '

Patience (or forbearance) is the ability to endure difficult circumstances. Patience may involve perseverance in the face of delay; tolerance of provocation without responding in disrespect/anger; or forbearance when under strain, especially when faced ...

'". Music website TeenToday noted Dixon's vocal ability, saying " Dixon's voice has never sounded better – and in fact, seems to have got a bit stronger".

Music video

The

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 ...

was originally intended to be filmed in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

, however, the video shoot coincided with a papal visit by

Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the sovereign ...

, and filming difficulties would occur. Also,

Charles Bridge Charles Bridge ( cs, Karlův most ) is a medieval stone arch bridge that crosses the Vltava river in Prague, Czech Republic. Its construction started in 1357 under the auspices of King Charles IV, and finished in the early 15th century.; The ...

, which was planned to feature throughout the video was clad in scaffolding, causing more filming complications. The new video, shot on 8 October 2009 in

Battersea Park Battersea Park is a 200-acre (83-hectare) green space at Battersea in the London Borough of Wandsworth in London. It is situated on the south bank of the River Thames opposite Chelsea and was opened in 1858. The park occupies marshland reclai ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, features Dixon walking through a

mist Mist is a phenomenon caused by small droplets of water suspended in the cold air, usually by condensation. Physically, it is an example of a dispersion. It is most commonly seen where water vapor in warm, moist air meets sudden cooling, such a ...

y park with

autumn Autumn, also known as fall in American English and Canadian English, is one of the four temperate seasons on Earth. Outside the tropics, autumn marks the transition from summer to winter, in September ( Northern Hemisphere) or March ( Sou ...

leaves scattered across the ground. Her love interest throughout the video appears then disappears intermittently, giving the impression he is spirit-like. The video ends at night with Dixon stood in the park in the centre of a group of people, with

skyscraper A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Modern sources currently define skyscrapers as being at least or in height, though there is no universally accepted definition. Skyscrapers are very tall high-ris ...

s in the backdrop, with an array of

sky lantern A sky lantern (), also known as Kǒngmíng lantern (), or Chinese lantern, is a small hot air balloon made of paper, with an opening at the bottom where a small fire is suspended. In Asia and elsewhere around the world, sky lanterns have bee ...

s flying in the sky. The video premiered on

4Music 4Music is a British music television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. The original incarnation was launched on 15 August 2008, and until 29 June 2022, showed a mix of music and entertainment programming. It ...

on 13 October 2009 at 7:00pm

GMT Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) is the mean solar time at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London, counted from midnight. At different times in the past, it has been calculated in different ways, including being calculated from noon; as a cons ...

. The video was directed by

Big TV! Big or BIG may refer to: * Big, of great size or degree Film and television * ''Big'' (film), a 1988 fantasy-comedy film starring Tom Hanks * '' Big!'', a Discovery Channel television show * ''Richard Hammond's Big'', a television show present ...

Chart performance

The song 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 15; this would be the peak position it would reach. The next week "To Love Again" dropped 11 places to 26 in the charts and by week 3 it had disappeared from the Top 40 entirely; it had dropped to 50 in the charts. Week 3 became the last week it charted in, before dropping out of the Top 75. Peaking a 15, "To Love Again" became Dixon's lowest charting single since " Knockdown" in 2006, which charted at 45. "To Love Again", despite being released in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, 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 ...

, though every single Dixon has released has fared less well in the Irish charts than the UK charts.

Live performances

Dixon performed the song first on 20 November at the

Children in Need 2009 ''Children in Need 2009'' was a campaign held in the United Kingdom to raise money for Children in Need. It culminated in a live broadcast on BBC One and ITV1 which began on the evening of Friday 20 November and ran through to the morning of Sat ...

telethon event on

BBC1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

, which she also co-hosted with

Terry Wogan Sir Michael Terence Wogan (; 3 August 1938 – 31 January 2016) was an Irish radio and television broadcaster who worked for the BBC in the UK for most of his career. Between 1993 and his semi-retirement in December 2009, his BBC Radio 2 weekd ...

and

Tess Daly Helen Elizabeth "Tess" Daly (born 29 March 1969) is an English model and television presenter who co-presented the BBC One celebrity dancing show ''Strictly Come Dancing'' from 2004 to 2013; she has been the show's main presenter since 2014. ...

. Additionally, Dixon performed "

The Boy Does Nothing "The Boy Does Nothing" is a song performed by British singer-songwriter Alesha Dixon. It is the lead single from her second studio album, ''The Alesha Show'' (2008). The song was written by Alesha along with the help of Brian Higgins, Miranda C ...

" at Children in Need too. On 24 November Dixon sang live at

GMTV GMTV (an acronym for Good Morning Television), now legally known as ITV Breakfast Broadcasting Limited, was the name of the national Channel 3 breakfast television contractor/licensee, broadcasting in the United Kingdom from 1 January 1993 ...

. Dixon then performed "To Love Again" on 27 November on ''

The Alan Titchmarsh Show ''The Alan Titchmarsh Show'' is a British daytime chat show presented by Alan Titchmarsh. It was first broadcast on ITV on 3 September 2007 until 14 November 2014 and aired on weekday afternoons. The show's main focus is the "Best of British" them ...

''. Dixon did perform on '' Alan Carr: Chatty Man'', however she neglected to play "To Love Again", and chose instead to perform "The Light", an album track from '' The Alesha Show - Encore''.

Charts

Track listing

*UK CD Single / UK Promo CD / Digital download #"To Love Again" – 3:51 *4-Track UK Promo CD #"To Love Again (Bimbo Jones Remix)" – 6:28 #"To Love Again (Bimbo Jones Instrumental)" – 6:28 #"To Love Again (Bimbo Jones Radio Edit)" – 3:49 #"To Love Again" – 3:51 *Digital download EP #"To Love Again" – 3:51 #"Breathe Slow" (Piano Remix) – 3:39 #"Before the Sun Goes Down" – 3:07 *Bimbo Jones Digital download #"To Love Again" (The Bimbo Jones Remix) - 3:49

Release history

References

External links

Official website
{{Alesha Dixon 2009 singles Alesha Dixon songs Pop ballads Songs written by Alesha Dixon Songs written by Gary Barlow Songs written by John Shanks Song recordings produced by John Shanks 2008 songs Asylum Records singles Music videos directed by Big T.V.