I remember seeing Lola Young at the Courtyard Theatre in Shoreditch in 2019. Perched on a stool behind a massive keyboard on an otherwise empty stage, Young’s talent shone out like a beacon – with song after song revealing revealing the singer’s gargantuan talent.
I remembered that performance this week when I reviewed Young’s new single, Together In Electric Dreams.
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A cover of the Phil Oakey/Giorgio Moroder classic, the track has been chosen to form the background to the John Lewis Christmas advert, and as such, big things are expected of both the single and the artist behind it.
Young’s version of the song is slower and more paired down than the original, which allows the tune’s delicate and intricate harmonies to come to the fore.
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Trading the pounding pop beat and punchy synths of the original for stark and atmospheric piano and emotive strings, Electric Dreams has a hauntingly emotive quality.
The song begins with a series of atmospheric chords before Young comes in.
‘I only knew you for a while, I never saw your smile’ she sings, in a voice dripping with emotion. The sparse instrumentation provides the perfect setting for the singer’s honeyed tones. During the song’s churus, this is augmented by a choir. The combined effect is quite breathtaking.
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Electric Dreams has often been erroneously connected to eighties supergroup The Human League, however, the track was released as a solo single by the group’s lead singer Phil Oakey, alongside composer Giorgio Moroder. The song was written by the duo for a film featuring a love triangle between a man, a woman and a personal computer.
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The film, which was also entitled Electric Dreams, was not a success, however. It was quickly overshadowed by the song which would finally peak at no.3 in the UK pop singles charts.
Now, with the might of John Lewis behind it and the prestige of being the official song for the retailer’s eagerly anticipated Christmas Advert, Young’s version of Electric Dreams looks like a shoe-in for the coveted Christmas number 1 spot. Whatever happens, the song seems certain to kickstart the talented young singer’s career.
Lola Young’s Electric Dreams offering a moody and sensitive adaptation of the eighties classic, with simple yet haunting instrumentation and a suitably memorable vocal. With a breathtaking promotional video to accompany it, Electric Dreams seems destined to become Young’s first major hit. Compelling.
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