Heartbreaker (Inna album)
Heartbreaker is the seventh studio album by Romanian singer Inna. It was released for streaming[B] to YouTube and SoundCloud by Global Records on 27 November 2020, and was issued to fellow platforms and released for digital download a week later under the same label. An EDM, Middle Eastern and Latin-influenced dance-pop release, the album was preceded by Inna's retransition to the EDM genre following the release of Yo (2019), her experimental and gypsy-inspired sixth studio album.
| Heartbreaker | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 27 November 2020 | |||
| Recorded | November 2020 | |||
| Genre | Dance-pop | |||
| Length | 30:12 | |||
| Language |
| |||
| Label | Global | |||
| Producer | ||||
| Inna chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Singles from Heartbreaker | ||||
| ||||
Heartbreaker was created over the course of three weeks in a mansion where Inna resided with Romanian songwriters and producers Sebastian Barac, Marcel Botezan, David Ciente, Alexandru Cotoi and Minelli. To document the progress made on what was initially planned to be an extended play (EP), Inna uploaded daily YouTube vlogs that constituted the first season of her Dance Queen's House series. However, the EP was ultimately scrapped after the creation of over 50 songs to choose from. Heartbreaker was aided by the release of two singles—"Flashbacks" and "Maza".[A] The former reached number one in Russia's radio ranking, and the top ten in Romania, Bulgaria, Ukraine and the Commonwealth of Independent States.
Background edit
Inna released her sixth studio album Yo in May 2019, which was jointly distributed by Global Records and Roc Nation.[3][4] Containing songs written solely in Spanish, the singer took the entirety of creative control over the album and worked extensively with Romanian producer David Ciente. Inna described Yo's material as experimental and gypsy-influenced, marking a departure from her previous EDM work.[5][6][7][8] With the release of "Bebe" in November 2019,[9] Inna's fourth number one on the native Airplay 100 chart,[10] she retransitioned to the EDM genre; it was the first in a string of several non-album singles.[11][12][13][14]
Creation and release edit
Heartbreaker was created during a three-week period in November 2020 at a rented Bucharest mansion with two recording studios, in which Inna resided with Romanian songwriters and producers Sebastian Barac, Marcel Botezan, Ciente, Alexandru Cotoi and Minelli. Inna documented the progress made during daily vlogs on her YouTube channel—which constituted the first season of her series called Dance Queen's House—that ran from 3 to 21 November 2020. The record was initially supposed to be an extended play (EP) released on 20 November 2020.[15][16][17][18]
Inna's 19 November 2020 vlog featured Romanian singer Antonia, which prompted InfoMusic writer Raluca Chirilă to speculate that Heartbreaker included a collaboration between Inna and the singer.[19] On the same occasion, Inna confirmed that the project had been expanded to a studio album and postponed to 27 November, with over 50 songs having been created to choose from.[20] A Zoom party was held during Inna's vlog on 21 November 2020 for fans to listen to demo versions of the chosen songs for the album; the tracks went on to be finished as well as mixed and mastered the following week.[21][22]
"Madja Jadja", a demo of what later became "Maza Jaja", was uploaded to SoundCloud on 22 November 2020.[23] Inna revealed the album's final title, Heartbreaker, and a preliminary tracklist through Instagram posts on 27 November.[24][25] On the same date, the album was issued for streaming[B] to YouTube and SoundCloud, with its release to fellow platforms and for digital download following on 4 December 2020.[26][27][28] Global Records handled the release process, and additionally issued all 10 songs on Heartbreaker as promotional singles on 4 December.[29]
Critical reception and composition edit
Bradley Stern of MuuMuse called Inna a "solid supplier" and "damn prolific", praising her decision to issue a completely new body of work with Heartbreaker and not stretch it out by not adding the previously released non-album singles to its tracklist. Stern further applauded the album's release strategy as a "power move", and jokingly concluded: "[The album] came right after [Spotify's] #Wrapped2020 happened. I will be launching a Change.org petition to have Spotify recount the votes immediately." Running for approximatively 30 minutes, Heartbreaker consists of EDM, Middle Eastern and Latin-influenced dance-pop songs that are written in both English and Spanish. The album opens with the Arabic music and reggaeton-inspired "Maza Jaja"[30] and "One Reason", with Stern commenting that the latter is "bound to be on heavy rotation at my Russian barbershop in Midtown that solely blasts deep house dance hits".[26][31]
Dance-Charts' Manuel Probst commended Heartbreaker as "top notch" and singled out "Flashbacks" as his favorite track, noticing "atmospheric" sounds, a piano loop and slap bass in its composition.[32] The "drama[tic]" song is followed by "Beautiful Life", which Stern compared to material released by Danish singer Medina. The Spanish-language "label brag" "Gucci Balenciaga" includes the explicit lyrics "me importa una mierda" (Spanish: "I don't give a shit"),[31] and is followed by the title "Heartbreaker", which InfoMusic's Alex Stănescu picked as the album's highlight, noticing its oriental influences as well as the use of a synthesizer and vocal chopping.[26] While Stern likened "Sunset Dinner" to American recording artist Britney Spears' "Change Your Mind (No Seas Cortes)" off her 2016 studio album Glory, he praised "Thicky" as "stand[ing] out above the rest". Seeing it as a "hypnotic dance floor anthem" and "a spiritual successor" to American singer Dev's "In the Dark" (2011), the writer noted "award-worthy lyricism that would make someone like Nadia Oh proud", including lines such as "He likes the kitty, I dog with it" and "Go down, stay there... don't move..."[31]
Promotion and singles edit
On 20 January 2021, "Flashbacks" was serviced to Romanian radio stations as the lead single of Heartbreaker;[1] the song was also aided by a music video released that month.[33] Upon entering the Shazam chart in Russia,[34] "Flashbacks" experienced commercial success on the radio ranking in the region, as well as in those of Romania, Bulgaria, Ukraine and the Commonwealth of Independent States, peaking at numbers one, four, seven, nine and two, respectively.[35][36][37][38][39] After performing "Maza Jaja" live on Selly Show, the Artist Awards and Untold Festival in December 2020,[40][41][42] Inna released a marginally remastered version of the song—titled "Maza"—as the album's second single on 11 June 2021 alongside a music video.[2][43] Other renditions of "Maza" include French lines from Black M and the contribution of Thutmose, respectively.[44][45]
Track listing edit
All tracks lyrics written by Elena Alexandra Apostoleanu (Inna) and Luisa Luca whereas musical composition was done by producers Alexandru Cotoi, Sebastian Barac, Marcel Botezan and David Ciente. Additionally, Nicole Ariana provided additional lyrics "You and I" and "Thicky", while Andres Alcaraz provided additional lyrics on "Gucci Balenciaga".[46]
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Maza Jaja" | 3:20 |
| 2. | "One Reason" | 3:08 |
| 3. | "Flashbacks" | 2:57 |
| 4. | "Beautiful Lie" | 3:00 |
| 5. | "Gucci Balenciaga" | 2:50 |
| 6. | "Heartbreaker" | 3:00 |
| 7. | "Sunset Dinner" | 2:52 |
| 8. | "You and I" | 2:46 |
| 9. | "Thicky" | 3:04 |
| 10. | "Till Forever" | 3:10 |
| Total length: | 30:12 | |
Release history edit
Notes edit
References edit
- ^ a b "Flashbacks". Media Forest. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
- ^ a b "Maza – Single by Inna on iTunes". iTunes Store. Retrieved 11 June 2021.
- ^ "Yo by Inna on iTunes". Apple Music (RO). 31 May 2019. from the original on 4 December 2020. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
- ^ "Yo by Inna on iTunes". Apple Music (US). 31 May 2019. from the original on 4 December 2020. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
- ^ "Inna – Biography". AllMusic. from the original on 19 March 2017. Retrieved 19 March 2017.
- ^ "Inna Interview". Cristina Stanciulescu (in Romanian). from the original on 21 November 2018. Retrieved 21 October 2018.
- ^ "Inna prezinta teaserul albumului 'Yo', primul album in limba spaniola compus integral de artista" [Inna releases the teaser of 'Yo', the first Spanish language album composed entirely by her]. Star Gossip Magazine (in Romanian). 17 October 2018. from the original on 21 October 2018. Retrieved 21 October 2018.
- ^ "Inna, aparitie incendiara la gala Latin Grammy Awards 2018!" [Inna, hot appearance at the Latin Grammy Awards 2018 gala!] (in Romanian). Cancan. 16 November 2018. from the original on 24 April 2019. Retrieved 16 November 2018.
- ^ "Bebe – Single by Inna and Vinka on iTunes". Apple Music (RO). from the original on 4 December 2020. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
- ^ "Airplay 100 – 15 martie 2020" (in Romanian). Kiss FM. 15 March 2020. from the original on 22 March 2020. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
- ^ Stănescu, Alex (2 April 2020). "Lyric Video: Inna - Not My Baby". InfoMusic. from the original on 4 December 2020. Retrieved 13 April 2020.
- ^ Krusch, Leon (11 April 2020). "Inna - Not My Baby" (in German). Dance Charts. from the original on 11 April 2020. Retrieved 13 April 2020.
- ^ Mankus, Modestas (7 May 2020). "Inna Presents 'Sober'". Our Culture Mag. from the original on 4 December 2020. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
- ^ Currinn, Jonathan. "Inna Releases New Single 'Sober' And Drops Home Edition Music Video". CelebMix. from the original on 21 May 2020. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
- ^ "Inchisa intr-o casa cu prietenii mei pentru 3 saptamani (turul casei)" [Locked inside a mansion with my friends for 3 weeks (house tour)] (in Romanian). YouTube. 3 November 2020. from the original on 3 November 2020. Retrieved 27 November 2020.
- ^ "Recap of the last week in Dance Queen's House" (in Romanian). YouTube. 21 November 2020. from the original on 4 December 2020. Retrieved 27 November 2020.
- ^ Chirilă, Raluca (4 November 2020). "Inna s-a izolat în 'Dance Queen House'. Urmărește primul episod" [Inna has isolated herself in 'Dance Queen House'. Watch the first episode] (in Romanian). InfoMusic. from the original on 13 November 2020. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
- ^ Chivu, Alexandra (25 November 2020). "Cum s-a descurcat Inna 3 săptămâni închisă într-o casă. Ce au făcut mama sa și iubitul Deliric" [How Inna managed to stay in a mansion for 3 weeks. See what her mother and boyfriend Deliric did] (in Romanian). Playtech. from the original on 4 December 2020. Retrieved 27 November 2020.
- ^ Chirilă, Raluca (20 November 2020). "Inna anunță un nou album, ce ar putea include o colaborare cu Antonia" [Inna has announced a new album which could include a collaboration with Antonia] (in Romanian). InfoMusic. from the original on 30 November 2020. Retrieved 21 November 2020.
- ^ "I made doughnuts for Antonia" (in Romanian). YouTube. 19 November 2020. from the original on 4 December 2020. Retrieved 27 November 2020.
- ^ "Zoom party - listening session of the new songs from Dance Queen's House" (in Romanian). YouTube. 20 November 2020. from the original on 4 December 2020. Retrieved 27 November 2020.
- ^ "Recap of the last week in Dance Queen's House" (in Romanian). YouTube. 21 November 2020. from the original on 4 December 2020. Retrieved 27 November 2020.
- ^ . SoundCloud. 22 November 2020. Archived from the original on 22 November 2020. Retrieved 26 November 2020.
- ^ "Inna Instagram post". Instagram. 27 November 2020. from the original on 4 December 2020. Retrieved 27 November 2020.
- ^ "Inna Instagram post". Instagram. 27 November 2020. from the original on 4 December 2020. Retrieved 27 November 2020.
- ^ a b c d Stănescu, Alex (27 November 2020). "Inna a lansat albumul 'Heartbreaker' pe YouTube: 10 piese noi pentru fani" [Inna has released the album 'Heartbreaker' on YouTube: 10 new songs for the fans] (in Romanian). InfoMusic. from the original on 4 December 2020. Retrieved 4 November 2020.
- ^ a b "Heartbreaker by Inna on iTunes". Apple Music (AU). 4 December 2020. from the original on 4 December 2020. Retrieved 4 December 2020.
- ^ a b "Heartbreaker by Inna". SoundCloud. 27 November 2020. from the original on 27 November 2020. Retrieved 4 December 2020.
- ^ Citations regarding the release of the songs as promotional singles:
- For "Beautiful Lie": "Beautiful Lie – Single by Inna on iTunes". Apple Music (AU). from the original on 4 December 2020. Retrieved 4 December 2020.
- For "Flashbacks": "Flashbacks – Single by Inna on iTunes". Apple Music (AU). from the original on 4 December 2020. Retrieved 4 December 2020.
- For "Gucci Balenciaga": "Gucci Balenciaga – Single by Inna on iTunes". Apple Music (AU). from the original on 4 December 2020. Retrieved 4 December 2020.
- For "Heartbreaker": "Heartbreaker – Single by Inna on iTunes". Apple Music (AU). from the original on 4 December 2020. Retrieved 4 December 2020.
- For "Maza Jaja": "Maza Jaja – Single by Inna on iTunes". Apple Music (AU). from the original on 4 December 2020. Retrieved 4 December 2020.
- For "One Reason": "One Reason – Single by Inna on iTunes". Apple Music (AU). from the original on 4 December 2020. Retrieved 4 December 2020.
- For "Sunset Dinner": "Sunset Dinner – Single by Inna on iTunes". Apple Music (AU). from the original on 4 December 2020. Retrieved 4 December 2020.
- For "Thicky": "Thicky – Single by Inna on iTunes". Apple Music (AU). from the original on 4 December 2020. Retrieved 4 December 2020.
- For "Till Forever": "Till Forever – Single by Inna on iTunes". Apple Music (AU). from the original on 4 December 2020. Retrieved 4 December 2020.
- For "You and I": "You and I – Single by Inna on iTunes". Apple Music (AU). from the original on 4 December 2020. Retrieved 4 December 2020.
- ^ Vincente, Juan (11 July 2021). "Inna, fiel a su lucha por el trono del verano con su nueva canción: Maza" [Inna, faithful to her fight for the throne of the summer with her new song: Maza] (in Spanish). Los 40. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
- ^ a b c Stern, Bradley (5 December 2020). "'Heartbreaker': Inna Rounds Out 2020 With a Fresh Set of Bangers". MuuMuse. from the original on 27 December 2020. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
- ^ Probst, Manuel (23 December 2020). "Inna - Flashbacks" (in German). Dance-Charts. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
- ^ Chirilă, Raluca (26 February 2020). "Videoclip: Inna – Flashbacks" (in Romanian). InfoMusic. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
- ^ "Piesa "Flashbacks" a Innei – pe locul 64 în top Shazam Rusia" [Inna's song "Flashbacks" – number 64 on the Russian Shazam chart] (in Romanian). Top Românesc. 21 January 2021. Retrieved 26 February 2021.
- ^ "City & Country Radio — Top Week Hits — Tophit Music Charts". Tophit. 9 April 2021. Retrieved 30 April 2021.
- ^ Arvunescu, Victor (28 June 2021). "Top Airplay 100 - Lider nou, chiar din România, după 7 săptămâni!" [Top Airplay 100 – A new leader, even from Romania, after 7 weeks!] (in Romanian). Un site de muzică. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
- ^ "PROPHON – Charts" (in Bulgarian). PROPHON. 16 April 2021. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
- ^ "City & Country Radio — Top Week Hits — Tophit Music Charts". Tophit. 14 May 2021. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
- ^ "Inna – Listen All Songs". Tophit. Retrieved 5 February 2021. Note: The 'Peak Position On Top Radio Hits' column is to be taken into consideration.
- ^ "Inna - Maza Jaja (Live in premiera @ Selly Show)". YouTube. 2 December 2020. from the original on 27 December 2020. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
- ^ "Inna | Live @ The Artist Awards 2020". YouTube. 29 December 2020. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
- ^ "Inna – Maza Jaja (Untold Festival Live 2020)". YouTube. 2 January 2021. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
- ^ Ghimus, Alina (11 June 2021). "Videoclip: Inna – Maza" (in Romanian). InfoMusic. Retrieved 11 June 2021.
- ^ "Inna x Black M – Maza | French Version". YouTube. 2 July 2021. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
- ^ "Maza (US Version) – Single by Inna on iTunes". iTunes Store. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
- ^ "Heartbreaker / Inna". Tidal. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
- ^ "Inna – Heartbreaker | Full album". YouTube. 27 November 2020. from the original on 4 December 2020. Retrieved 27 November 2020.
- ^ "Heartbreaker by Inna on Apple Music" (in Japanese). Apple Music (JP). Retrieved 11 April 2021.