Soulful singer and songwriter, Gabrielle, relesed her single, ‘Rise’ in January 2000. The song (written by Gabrielle, Ollie Dagois and Ferdy Unger-Hamilton and produced by Jonny Dollar), was the second single to be taken from her third, studio album of the same title, Rise.
The track became notable for the rare, authorised use of a Bob Dylan sample (taken from his 1973-song ‘Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door’. Apparently, Dylan liked ‘Rise’ so much, that he allowed Gabrielle to use the sample for free, while receiving a co-writer credit for providing the song’s chord progression and vocal sample.
The song reached number one on the UK Singles Chart and stayed there for two weeks, acroos January and February 2000, becoming her second chart-topper.
This is such a soulful song that for the era of mainstream pop, it actually stood out quite significantly for her different vibe, making her stand out as an artist in that era. Subsequently, this track has a rather timeless feel to it.
The music video (Directed by Kevin Godley) sees the singer singing whilst spectating at a boxing match – a nice visual metaphor to accompany the song.
What are your thoughts of this soulful singer’s 2000 hit? Are you still a fan 20 years on? Do you have a #ThrowbackThursday track to recommend us? Please leave your thoughts or song suggestions in a comment or via social media.
Matt – Muzik Speaks
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‘Rise’ can be downloaded off iTunes now – https://music.apple.com/gb/album/rise/1440911935?i=1440911940
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