"Young Blood" is a song by English recording artist

Sophie Ellis-Bextor Sophie Michelle Ellis-Bextor (born 10 April 1979) is an English singer and songwriter. She first came to prominence in the late 1990s as the lead singer of the indie rock band Theaudience. After the group disbanded Ellis-Bextor went solo and ach ...

from her fifth studio album ''

Wanderlust Wanderlust is a strong desire to wander or travel and explore the world. Etymology The first documented use of the term in English occurred in 1902 as a reflection of what was then seen as a characteristically German predilection for wandering ...

'' (2014). The song was released as the album's lead single on 21 November 2013. It was co-written by

Ed Harcourt Edward Henry Richard Harcourt-Smith (born 14 August 1977) is an English singer-songwriter. To date, he has released six studio albums, two EPs, and thirteen singles. His debut album, ''Here Be Monsters'', was nominated for the 2001 Mercury Priz ...

and Ellis-Bextor; the former also produced it. The song is a

chamber pop Chamber pop (or Chamber rock; also called baroque pop and sometimes conflated with orchestral pop or symphonic pop) is a music genre that combines rock music with the intricate use of strings, horns, piano, and vocal harmonies, and other compo ...

piano ballad A ballade (from French '' ballade'', , and German ''Ballade'', , both being words for "ballad"), in classical music since the late 18th century, refers to a setting of a literary ballad, a narrative poem, in the musical tradition of the , or to a o ...

, which features instrumentation from subdued drums and various string instruments. In the track, Ellis-Bextor sings with restrain, incorporating a low register in the verses and hitting her highest note in the chorus. A

demo Demo, usually short for demonstration, may refer to: Music and film *Demo (music), a song typically recorded for reference rather than release * ''Demo'' (Behind Crimson Eyes), a 2004 recording by the band Behind Crimson Eyes * ''Demo'' (Deafhea ...

version of the track was offered online in March 2013. "Young Blood" received mostly positive reviews from music critics, who complimented Ellis-Bextor's vocals and the song's tenderness. The song became her first single to enter 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 ...

since her 2011 single " Bittersweet". On its component UK Indie chart, the track peaked within the top five.

Sophie Muller Sophie Luise Elisabeth Muller (born 31 January 1962) is a British music video director who has directed more than 300 music videos. She won a Grammy Award for Annie Lennox's 1992 '' Diva'' video album, and an MTV Video Music Award for Lennox's so ...

was commissioned to direct its video, which shows Ellis-Bextor on a pier and inside a living room. The song was performed on some television programmes in the United Kingdom.

Composition

As with the rest of ''Wanderlust'', "Young Blood" was composed by the English musician

, with additional songwriting from Ellis-Bextor. It was recorded at the State of the Ark studios, mixed and engineered by Richard Woodcruft, and mastered by Miles Showell. It is a

, with a

viola ; german: Bratsche , alt=Viola shown from the front and the side , image=Bratsche.jpg , caption= , background=string , hornbostel_sachs=321.322-71 , hornbostel_sachs_desc=Composite chordophone sounded by a bow , range= , related= *Violin family ...

, a

violin The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano) in the family in regu ...

, muffled drums, a

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G ...

and a

double bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox additions such as the octobass). Similar i ...

. According to the sheet music published by

Universal Music Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...

, it is set in a tempo of 60

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 ...

. It is written in the key of

F major F major (or the key of F) is a major scale based on F, with the pitches F, G, A, B, C, D, and E. Its key signature has one flat. Its relative minor is D minor and its parallel minor is F minor. The F major scale is: : F major is the ...

, and its verses follow the chord progression B♭mai—F. The song begins with a gentle piano melody, transitioning into Ellis-Bextor's sung section. During the verses of the song, she sings in a low register, reaching her lowest note of F; conversely, in the chorus, her voice reaches C and trembles. Throughout the song, her vocals are restrained and incorporate the

melisma Melisma ( grc-gre, μέλισμα, , ; from grc, , melos, song, melody, label=none, plural: ''melismata'') is the singing of a single syllable of text while moving between several different notes in succession. Music sung in this style is refer ...

technique. The bridge of the song features "choral harmonies". The song's lyrics are written in

first First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

and

second-person narrative Narration is the use of a written or spoken commentary to convey a story to an audience. Narration is conveyed by a narrator: a specific person, or unspecified literary voice, developed by the creator of the story to deliver information to the ...

, following the common verse–chorus form. According to Ludovic Hunter-Tilney from ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Ni ...

'', the track discusses "the joys of growing old with one's spouse".

Reception

For '' Time Out'' magazine, Clare Considine described "Young Blood" as a "delicate love song" and opined that the strings and piano melodies effectively complement Ellis-Bextor's vocals. Michael Cragg of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' stated that the song's sonority "fits llis-Bextorlike a glove", and also deemed its melody "gorgeous". James Gareth from ''Clash'' characterised the song as "sincerely beautiful", and Digital Spy's Robert Copsey agreed, calling it "doe-eyed" and "fantastically pretty". From

Virgin Media Virgin Media is a British telecommunications company which provides telephone, television and internet services in the United Kingdom. Its headquarters are at Green Park in Reading, England. It is owned by Virgin Media O2, a 50:50 joint ventu ...

, Matthew Horton called the track "heart-stinging", while Hermoine Hoby, writing for ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the ...

'' considered that the song is "surprisingly successfully" similar to the works of

Adele Adele Laurie Blue Adkins (, ; born 5 May 1988), professionally known by the mononym Adele, is an English singer and songwriter. After graduating in arts from the BRIT School in 2006, Adele signed a rec ...

. Sam Lansky of

Idolator An idolator is a practitioner of idolatry. Idolater or Idolator may also refer to: Books *''Os Idólatras'', 1968 Portuguese novel by Maria Judite de Carvalho Music * Idolator (website), an American music blog * ''Idolator'' (album), third album ...

complimented the song for being "beautiful" and "timeless". Louise Bruton from ''

The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...

'' wrote that Ellis-Bextor's "icy vocals forgive the "blunders" of ''Wanderlust'', while musicOMH's Kate Bennett provided a polarized review for the song. Although she praised Ellis-Bextor's vocals, Bennett described the track as "heroine-gazing-forlornly-into-the-distance" due to its instrumentation. David Farrell, writing on behalf of

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...

, commented that "Young Blood" was the best of the album and highlighted Ellis-Bextor's vocal performance. The song only charted in the United Kingdom. Reaching number 34 on its singles chart, the song became Ellis-Bextor's first to enter the chart since " Bittersweet", which was released in 2010 and peaked at 25. "Young Blood" spent three weeks on the chart, and as of January 2014, it is her fifteenth best-selling song in the country. On the UK Indie chart, the track reached number 3.

Release and promotion

version of "Young Blood" was released on 27 March 2013, as a complimentary download on Ellis-Bextor's website. Selected as the lead single of ''Wanderlust'', the song was released as a standalone digital download on 21 November of that year. A

CD single A CD single (sometimes abbreviated to CDS) is a music single in the form of a compact disc. The standard in the Red Book for the term ''CD single'' is an 8 cm (3-inch) CD (or Mini CD). It now refers to any single recorded onto a CD of any si ...

of the track was sent to radio stations in that month, including the album version of it as well as a radio edit; the song was eventually playlisted by

hot adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quiet ...

UK station BBC Radio 2. Ellis-Bextor revealed that she chose "Young Blood" as the first single from ''Wanderlust'' because she found it representative of the album's sound. The official

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 promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...

of "Young Blood" was filmed by

, and released on 25 November 2013. It mostly depicts Ellis-Bextor, dressed in a striped dress, lip-synching the song's lyrics, walking through an abandoned pier "in terrible weather". Those scenes are interspersed with clips of her sat on a red sofa, wearing a "buttoned up, Victorian-styled lace dress" inside a lounge room. Writing for Idolator, Mike Wass characterised the visual as "simple", noting that it is adequate for the song's tone. On 9 April 2014, Ellis-Bextor performed "Young Blood" on ITV's morning programme '' Daybreak''; fifteen days later, she sang it on the first episode of the channel's '' Weekend'', aired on 26 April 2014. She performed the song in an unplugged setting on ''ZDF Morgenmagazin'', a programme of German channel

ZDF ZDF (, short for Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen; ; "Second German Television") is a German public-service television broadcaster based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. It is run as an independent nonprofit institution, which was founded by all fe ...

, on 23 January 2014.

Track listing

;Promotional CD single Details adapted from the liner notes of the "Young Blood" promotional CD single. # "Young Blood" (Radio edit) – # "Young Blood" – ;Digital download # "Young Blood" –

Credits and personnel

* Sophie Ellis-Bextor – lead vocals, songwriting * Ed Harcourt – songwriting, production, background vocals, samples, synth, keyboards, piano * Dirty Pretty Strings – strings * Amy Lingley – cello * Gita Langley – violin * Rosie Langley – violin * Arnulf Lindner – double bass * Polly Wiltshire – viola * Richard Woodcraft – engineering, mixing * Miles Showell – mastering

Weekly charts

Release history

References

{{Sophie Ellis-Bextor 2010s ballads 2013 singles Sophie Ellis-Bextor songs 2013 songs Pop ballads Songs written by Ed Harcourt Songs written by Sophie Ellis-Bextor