Let There Be Love (Christina Aguilera song)
"Let There Be Love" is a song recorded by American singer Christina Aguilera for her seventh studio album, Lotus (2012). It was written and produced by Max Martin and Shellback, with additional writing from Bonnie McKee, Oliver Goldstein, Oscar Holter and Jakke Erixson. Having originally collaborated with other producers in her earlier works, Aguilera stated that the "full circle" her career had taken became the right time to work with Martin. The song combines dance-pop, EDM and pop music genres, and is influenced by electronica and trance. Its instrumentation incorporates synths, drums and electronics.
"Let There Be Love"
"Let There Be Love" garnered positive reviews from music critics. Many praised Aguilera for not over singing and delivering a solid vocal performance, while others complimented the musical structure and composition. The song peaked at number 132 on the South Korea international singles chart following the release of the album, number five on the Ultratip (Bubbling Under) chart in Wallonia (Belgium),[1] and at number one on the US Dance Club Songs chart. It was the second-most played song of 2013 in clubs in the US.
On August 29, 2013, an accompanying music video for the song was released on Aguilera's official channel. It features cameo appearances from Nicole Richie, Christina Milian, Chris Mann, Aguilera's son Max Bratman and her current boyfriend Matthew Rutler. The video sees everybody makes the "L" sign for the word "love", alongside positive messages, such as "Racism sucks", "Accept", and "Amo a mi hijo gay" ("I love my gay son"). It was described as a "soulful, and completely inexplicable, letter to her fans thanking them for their undying love". To promote Lotus and the song, Aguilera performed "Let There Be Love" at the 40th American Music Awards and on The Voice in the United States.
Background and recording[edit]
Following the release of her sixth studio album, Bionic (2010),[2] Aguilera filed for divorce from her husband Jordan Bratman, starred in the film Burlesque and recorded the accompanying soundtrack.[3] She then became a coach on NBC's singing competition show The Voice[3] and appeared as a featured artist on Maroon 5's single "Moves Like Jagger" (2011), which spent four weeks atop the US Billboard Hot 100 chart.[4] Following these events, Aguilera announced that had plans to begin production of her seventh album, stating that she wanted high quality and "personal" songs for the record.[4] Regarding the creative direction, she revealed that the album would be a "culmination of everything I've experienced up until this point ... I've been through a lot since the release of my last album, being on (The Voice), having had a divorce ... This is all sort of a free rebirth for me."[5] She further said "I'm embracing many different things, but it's all feel-good, super-expressive [and] super-vulnerable."[5] Aguilera continued to say that the album would be about "self–expression and freedom" because of the personal struggles she had overcome during the last couple of years.[6]
Speaking about her new material during an interview on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno in 2012, Aguilera said that the recording process for Lotus was taking a while because "I don't like to just get songs from producers. I like them to come from a personal place ... I'm very excited. It's fun, exciting, introspective, it's going to be great".[7] Recorded at MXM Studios by Shellback in Stockholm, Sweden, "Let There Be Love" was written by Max Martin, Savan Kotecha, Bonnie McKee, Oliver Goldstein, Oscar Holter and Jakke Erixson.[8] It was produced by Martin and Shellback.[8] Aguilera's vocals were recorded by Oscar Ramirez at The Red Lips Room in Beverly Hills in California; the background vocals engineer was Sam Holland.[8] Programming and keyboards were carried out by Shellback and additional keyboards were performed by Holter, Erixson and Martin.[8]
Composition and lyrics[edit]
"Let There Be Love" combines a multitude of genres. It is a dance-pop,[10] EDM,[11] pop,[12] and Eurodance[13] song. It also contains electronica and trance influences.[14][15] Aguilera's vocals here span from G3 to F5. It lasts for a duration of three minutes and 22 seconds.[16] The instrumental consists of "a propulsive beat and chewy synths",[17] as well as "loud drums" and "overwhelming" electronica.[14] According to Kitty Empire for The Guardian, the song is "about as formulaic as club pop gets" but "resonates effectively."[18] Andrew Hampp for Billboard compared the song's instrumental to two songs recorded by Usher, "DJ Got Us Fallin' in Love" and "Scream", both of which were produced by Martin.[17] He also noted that Aguilera was probably aware that the "Let There Be Love"'s melody bared strong resemblances to the songs, which most likely prompted her to spend "the last minute wailing all over the place."[17] Aguilera "roars" the lyrics "Let there be let there be love/ Here in the here in the dark" over trance beats and projects a "saucy" tone as she sings ""Hit the right spot, making my eyes roll back."[14][15]
Music video[edit]
Conception[edit]
The music video for "Let There Be Love" was premiered on Aguilera's official channel on YouTube on August 29, 2013.[28] The clip was official released few hours after she posted a 2000-word thank you message to fans on her official website on August 28, 2013.[28] A part of the letter reads,
Credits adapted from the liner notes of Lotus, RCA Records.[8]