Eleni Foureira delivers the bops on sunny new EP
One of the best things about Eurovision week, is that former contestants come back with new music to profit from the attention for the event that helped their career. Eleni Foureira, who represented Cyprus last year with the song ‘Fuego’ finishing in second place, returned to the Eurovision stage this year to cover Verka Serduchka’s ‘Dancing Lasha Tumbai’ (Ukraine 2007) as part of a special interval act, but also released some new material. She gives us exactly what we need on her bops only new EP Gypsy Woman.
After the success of ‘Fuego’, Foureira stayed true to the latin pop sound that brought her a hit. She released the swinging tunes ‘Caremela’ and ‘Tómame’ and surprised with the more electronic banger ‘Triumph’ more recently. On her new EP, she drops four brand new compositions, but it all starts with a cover of Crystal Waters’ ‘Gypsy Woman’. Foureira makes the track her own with a more contemporary production and a brand new funky dance break as a middle-eight. Her sultry vocals work well with the new production. This cover keeps the spirit of the original alive, but gives it a playful new twist.
Foureira regularly performs in Spanish since ‘Fuego’ changed her career. For this EP she recorded a track called ‘El Ritmo Psicodélico’ (which means ‘the psychedelic rhythm’) and it goes off! The chorus is built around a prominent beat drop with the main hook created by the repetition of the chant ‘co loco loco loco lo’. It is insanely catchy and will be stuck in your head for the rest of the week, but it is so worth it. This needs to become a summer hit!
WIth ‘Catch Ya’, Eleni drops the booty call anthem we did not know we needed. “Don’t get it twisted, I’m not your misses, I only call ya when I’m bored”, she sings over a mostly electronic beat with some hints of trumpet sounds in the background. The lyrics about her DM’s looking empty are as relatable as they are unrealistic. On the swinging ‘Barcelona’, she travels to the Spanish city to find the dude she fell in love with after a steamy night. The high energy swinging tune sounds like a sped up early days Shakira tune. Needless to say it is fabulous.
On closing track ‘Maria’, Eleni cannot compete with a girl named Maria who stole her man’s heart. While Eleni just wants him back, Maria lets him buy her Balenciagas. This fine piece of latin pop with some reggaeaton influences has a smooth but out of the box production by B-Hav and Claydee Lupa and even references her Eurovision hit. Eleni and her team seem to know exactly where her strengths lie and come up with an EP that serves bop after memorable bop. She was just in time to catch some of the Eurovision hype and has some tracks ready to slay all over Europe this summer!