Written by Hero Magnus
Television shows like American Idol have sprung a few true pop stars in the last decade, such as Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood. Young artists are sometimes able to leverage the fame they gain on these shows into a music career. For example, America’s Got Talent winner Grace VanderWaal and American Idol fan-favorite Catie Turner, have both gone on to make their own music and begin their careers as recording artists.
Louisa is another one of these musicians with a platform, one that she gained by being the youngest ever winner of The X-Factor UK at just seventeen. Her latest song, “Ain’t Thinking Bout You,” shows off her own style as a musician and maker of catchy club hits.
Louisa released her first single, “So Good,” right after her X-Factor win. She followed that up with several exciting collaborations with artists like Olly Murs and 2 Chainz.
“Ain’t Thinking Bout You” is actually by artists KREAM and Eden Prince, both known for their remixes of popular songs and Louisa is the featured artist on the track.
Louisa has a great voice; it’s rich and supple with a heavenly sound that she slips into during the choruses of the song. She hints at her R&B influence with her strong vocal runs which, side note, her solo album, set for release this year, is said to be “soulful.”
The song has some satisfyingly caustic revenge in the verses, describing how Louisa is clearly done with her love interest (“you think you’re one in a million / to me you’re nothing at all” she snarls in the second verse). The choruses are emotionally tranquil. She goes from being petty to truly moving on: “I ain’t thinking ’bout you anymore / what if you did the same and just let go?”
The tone of the chorus implies that Louisa really IS over this love interest, and ready to let go, while the verses destabilize her mantra, making her seem more angry and less convincing.
It’s a mostly-non-petty post-break-up song, a combination of “Someone Like You” by Adele and “You’re So Vain” by Carly Simon. It also reminds me both musically and lyrically of “Don’t Feel Like Crying,” one of my favorite breakup songs of late by pop artist Sigrid. All of these songs capture the difficulty of letting go of a love interest, without being either abjectly bitter nor sickeningly saintlike. In short, Louisa is very relatable, which is probably how she made a whole country fall in love with her on The X-Factor.
The song is dynamic, with clever vocal distortion during each post-chorus. The electronic drums and overall catchy bounciness of “Ain’t Thinking Bout You” is to be expected from KREAM and Eden Prince’s production skills. It’s the kind of song that could fit equally onto a sad breakup playlist and at the club.
It’s great to get a sense of Louisa through her collaborations with other artists and her features on songs, and I’m excited to see how she’ll be as a solo recording artist.
“Cause I know that my feelings are long gone,” Louisa croons at the end of the chorus. Is it true? Who knows. But who cares? Louisa is clearly the winner of not just The X-Factor, but also our hearts.
Listen To Louisa’s Ain’t Thinking Bout You With KREAM + Eden Prince Here
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