There are a million reasons why this advert, above, for Little Boots' stellar debut album Hands is amazing. First of all there's no inane voiceover by a Radio 1 DJ. Countless TV adverts for albums have been ruined by Jo Whiley announcing that "THIS is the unMISSable sound of [insert forgettable indie band here]". Even the adverts for Lady GaGa's The Fame have been disappointingly mundane, which is just unbelievable when you consider she already had a ready-made, flawlessly conceived mini-promo-film that is so unique and delicious compared to other album promos, it's a crime it wasn't used.
But no, this (above) is fantastic. It announces Little Boots as a big, synthy, disco delight. It announces her as an event not to be missed. It gives her mystery and depth. We could write our university dissertation on what went 'wrong' with the Little Boots campaign, but instead we're just going to offer up this... Ms. Boots has always asserted that she wanted to be big and mainstream. Even when she was in her bedroom doing piano covers of Alphabeat songs, she wanted to be big and mainstream. And she could have been, and she still COULD be. But for that to happen, her label have to handle her with the kind of big, almost hyperbolic spunk that they have in the advert above! They can't shy away from her DIY unicorn-procreating-with-a-glass-prism artwork and aesthetics. They can't SOLELY meekly promote her via glossy middle-class media channels like Jools Holland, some tube posters and a couple of broadsheets. If that TV advert had been circulating back in March, followed by the release of "New in Town" accompanied by a video of her stomping around at night followed by disco divas (not tramps!!!!) she might be well on her way to a platinum selling album and assured future success.
Popjustice, who often hit the nail right on the head, wrote something about her label almost seeming embarrassed by her. And we can't help but get this feeling too. Boots herself has never shied away from her aspirations towards mainstream success, nor has she ever attempted to be 'edgy' or 'indie'. If her label wanted to get it right, they should have picked ONE thing and gone for it, instead of ending up with a strange, contrived campaign that feels like it has the monetary backing of a major label deal, with aspirations towards niche, hipster success. It hasn't worked.
We love Little Boots and we think she makes fantastic music, but she should have been LITTLE BOOTS: POPSTAR from the start. Not Little Boots, indie keyboard hipster with inexplicably expensive music video meaning nothing.
*Bangs head on wall*
This comes at the same time as news that her video for "Remedy" which, quite frankly, looked like what she needed, has been scrapped and a new one shot.
But no, this (above) is fantastic. It announces Little Boots as a big, synthy, disco delight. It announces her as an event not to be missed. It gives her mystery and depth. We could write our university dissertation on what went 'wrong' with the Little Boots campaign, but instead we're just going to offer up this... Ms. Boots has always asserted that she wanted to be big and mainstream. Even when she was in her bedroom doing piano covers of Alphabeat songs, she wanted to be big and mainstream. And she could have been, and she still COULD be. But for that to happen, her label have to handle her with the kind of big, almost hyperbolic spunk that they have in the advert above! They can't shy away from her DIY unicorn-procreating-with-a-glass-prism artwork and aesthetics. They can't SOLELY meekly promote her via glossy middle-class media channels like Jools Holland, some tube posters and a couple of broadsheets. If that TV advert had been circulating back in March, followed by the release of "New in Town" accompanied by a video of her stomping around at night followed by disco divas (not tramps!!!!) she might be well on her way to a platinum selling album and assured future success.
Popjustice, who often hit the nail right on the head, wrote something about her label almost seeming embarrassed by her. And we can't help but get this feeling too. Boots herself has never shied away from her aspirations towards mainstream success, nor has she ever attempted to be 'edgy' or 'indie'. If her label wanted to get it right, they should have picked ONE thing and gone for it, instead of ending up with a strange, contrived campaign that feels like it has the monetary backing of a major label deal, with aspirations towards niche, hipster success. It hasn't worked.
We love Little Boots and we think she makes fantastic music, but she should have been LITTLE BOOTS: POPSTAR from the start. Not Little Boots, indie keyboard hipster with inexplicably expensive music video meaning nothing.
*Bangs head on wall*
This comes at the same time as news that her video for "Remedy" which, quite frankly, looked like what she needed, has been scrapped and a new one shot.
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