#21 Lorie, "Play"

Une love, une love song

2007 was the year that French singer Lorie turned herself into a proper popstar, but the beginning of 2008 may have brought us the epitome of that transformation. With "Play," the second single released from her dreadfully underrated dance-friendly pop album 2Lor En Moi?, Lorie, with the help of the song's brilliant writer Fred "Asdorve" Chateau, gave us a string-featuring electronic pop masterpiece. It's a bit Kylie, a bit Rachel Stevens, but mostly and most impressively of all, it's original--you can draw comparisons to other artists, but it's never an exact match. Why on Earth she isn't much more popular than she is in either France or Internet world is beyond me. The video alone should have had people tripping over themselves to sing her praises--along with Charlotte Perrelli and one other female popstar yet to come, Lorie here did 2008's best job of personifying "iconic."

Two incidental notes: I've got 10 remixes of this song (though many are a case of full version and radio edit), which I think is more than I have for any other song, and if it's true that Lorie's boyfriend Garou is the one doing the male spoken parts during this song (I don't have my CD with me to check), then it's the first time I really am thankful for his deep voice--it complements the song to a T.

Find it on: 2Lor En Moi?