Little Boots has kept us dancing more more than a decade now, and we can’t see Victoria Hesketh stopping her beat anytime soon. The celebrated English singer-songwriter, producer, and DJ hits the floor once more today (September 24) with a metallic new electronic-pop bop that reminds us why we fell in disco love with her in the late-aughts.
But the track’s themes are very much rooted in the now.
“‘Silver Balloons’ is in many ways a metaphor for all the cancelled plans and parties of lockdown, all of the disappointments as one by one we watched many of our hopes and desires burst like shiny balloons at the end of the night,” Hesketh says. “All we have left is each other; coming together and holding tight to hope is the way we have all seemed to get through the last couple of years.”
If there’s a bit of a classic disco vibe deep within “Silver Balloons,” that’s also by design, as Hesketh, like many of us in the pandemic age, has returned some listening habits to the early days of dance and nightclub music.
“Sonically, I was listening to a lot of classic ’70s songwriters during the making of this record while really putting the piano at the centre of everything, so you can hear echoes of Elton John, Carole King, The Bee Gees, even Wings. The piano and vocals in this track also really remind me of one of my all-time favorites, Saint Etienne. I’m also especially proud of 100 percent writing and producing this record myself, and it being totally powered by my fans via their support on Patreon.”
In addition to prepping the forthcoming fourth Little Boots album, Hesketh will also play a series of intimate shows next month in London and Manchester, with some additional clubs dates across the Atlantic before the year is out, and take part in the upcoming Abba Voyage concert, singing backing vocals and playing live keyboards and synthesizers.