Basking in the euphoria of intimate connection, Emily Blue’s stunning “7 Minutes” is an irresistible ode to love full of big, buoyant melodies and a beautifully unapologetic, expressive energy.
for fans of Carly Rae Jepsen, Michael Jackson, Tears for Fears
Stream: “7 Minutes” – Emily Blue
An upheaval of love dressed in stunning pop garb, Emily Blue’s Valentine’s Day single captures real life magic.
There’s nothing quite like the bonds we form through love. They go well above and beyond the pre-written remarks on a Hallmark card, a dozen red roses, or an expensive box of chocolates. Love is vulnerable; love is immediate; love is immortal; love is understanding; love is intense; love is limitless; love is transcendent. Love is magical, and sometimes it takes a really good song to remind us of just how special it is that we get the opportunity to experience such a remarkably profound and complex sensation. Basking in the euphoria of intimate connection, Emily Blue’s stunning “7 Minutes” is an irresistible ode to love full of big, buoyant melodies and a beautifully unapologetic energy.
We’re texting like we’re dating
But at the party you barely look my way
It shouldn’t be complicated
Electric currents and basic chemistry
When I’m close to you, I know you feel it
Just you and me, yeah
So let me prove it
Let me show you how I’d get to know you
Released in time for Valentine’s Day 2021, “7 Minutes” is a dramatic pop overhaul full of earnest feeling and a touch of ecstasy. The song arrives as the lead single off Emily Blue’s forthcoming 80’s revival record The Afterlove, set for release this summer. Following in the footprints of Michael Jackson, Cyndi Lauper, and Carly Rae Jepsen, Emily Blue returns in 2021 with a resounding and catchy statement we will be playing on repeat for years and years to come.
“‘To put it simply, ‘7 Minutes’ is an ’80s-inspired bop,” Blue tells Atwood Magazine. “It’s about initial romantic attraction, that feeling of being so close but so far from the person you desire. I wanted to create something heavenly, danceable, and all-around very queer. In many ways, this song subverts being in the ‘closet’ and turns it into a magical place.”
I wanted to create something heavenly, danceable, and all-around very queer. In many ways, this song subverts being in the ‘closet’ and turns it into a magical place.
“7 Minutes” confidently rises from a whisper to a shout. In her verses, Blue laments the distance she feels between herself and a budding love interest; she builds tension as she captures the dissonance between intimacy and aloofness – that instinct to shield and protect yourself, versus a growing longing to be fully yourself and completely vulnerable with another. She explodes in a dazzling chorus, relieving that inner tension through an unencumbered expression of pure and simple desire:
‘Cause I’ve been waiting
To give you 7 minutes in heaven
To make this moment feel like forever
To taste your bubblegum
I’ve been praying
To give you 7 minutes in heaven
We’ll turn the closet into a new dimension
Oh, yeah
One of Emily Blue’s last productions with longtime collaborator Max Perenchio (who passed tragically last year), “7 Minutes” is mesmerizing. The tune soars with its own natural rhythm, as though it wrote itself; it’s the kind of glittery, glitchy pop song that feels so obvious, you wonder how it hadn’t already existed in the first place.
Directed and edited by Blue, the “7 Minutes” music video adds cinematic glamour, glitter and gold to an already alluring euphoric indulgence. “The video was a magical experience – as a director and performer, I finally got to embody the aesthetic of my favorite decade but with a modern twist,” Blues shares. Love jumps off the page in this visual, coming to life with dreamy bright colors and vivid portrayals of intimacy
Truth be told, “7 Minutes” is just the latest in Blue’s seemingly endless wellspring of enchanting musical creativity.
A mainstay for Atwood Magazine since 2016 when we premiered her debut single “No Pain” and her subsequent debut album Another Angry Woman), Blue is constantly redefining her artistry and style with a Madonna-esque level of expertise. In a relatively short period of time, she has engaged in singer/songwriter music (her debut), electro and “indie” pop (2018’s *69 EP), and most recently hair metal; this is all in addition to her work fronting Illinois band Tara Terra and their cathartic, sweet brand of indie rock.
Blue’s new ’80s pop revival aesthetic feels like the natural next step in her exciting, ever-evolving journey, and Atwood Magazine had the distinct pleasure of catching up with the artist to discuss all things ’80s and love. Dive into the depths of “7 Minutes” with Emily Blue below, and stay tuned for The Afterlove, out this summer!
I’ve been waiting
To give you 7 minutes in heaven
To make this moment feel like forever
To taste your bubblegum
I’ve been praying
To give you 7 minutes in heaven
We’ll turn the closet into a new dimension
Oh, yeah
Love is such a vast and deep human experience; there is always something to draw from. The relationships in my life, long or short, all leave a mark on me.
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:: stream/purchase “7 Minutes” here ::
CATCHING UP WITH EMILY BLUE
Atwood Magazine: How did the inspiration for “7 Minutes” come about?
Emily Blue: “7 Minutes” is the first of many singles off my upcoming record The Afterlove, which I’ve been working on for a number of years. The track is inspired by so many things, namely some of my favorite 80s bands and the sparkly pop textures that I always enjoy. I love the energy behind live bands so we recorded some live drums for this track. Mainly I just wanted to make a sexy, cute, and queer love song with an infectious vibe and hook.
Why do you think love is such an inspiration for you?
Emily Blue: I think love is such a vast and deep human experience; there is always something to draw from. The relationships in my life, long or short, all leave a mark on me. I think I use music as a way to understand some of the lessons I learn from relationships. I also think that being enamored with someone is so special – you notice the details about their mannerisms, their appearance in ways you don’t with a more distant friendship.
We’re dancing like we’re lovers
Ditching the party to go out one on one
You sing along to New Order
You got your strawberry lip gloss on
I’m so close to you, I hear you breathing
Yeah I can feel it
So let’s get a room
Let me show you how I’d get to know you, to know you
You’re dropping this single for Valentine’s Day. Can we talk about this song’s relationship with love and connection?
Emily Blue: Of course! This is a song about having a crush, to put it simply, but deeper than that it also talks about being “in the closet.” I was drawing from the idea of 7 Minutes in Heaven and having that secrecy turn into a utopia where our queerness / romantic feelings come out unapologetically. I think that love and romance really made the song blossom into what it is.
You’ve dived headfirst into this ‘80s revival sound. Who are some of your big influences in that space and what drove you to explore it more?
Emily Blue: I love Tears for Fears, Heart, Pat Benatar, Cyndi Lauper. Pretty much any ’80s hit I’ll know the words and have internalized it at some point. So it wasn’t really on purpose that I dove into this textural world, I think I’ve just been so attracted to the grandeur of it all for a while. In the 1980s they had such huge singles, huge vocals, and everything had the dynamic range of a broadway musical. I wanted to try something that felt larger than life.
Like me, you didn’t get to really have the joy of living in the ‘80s. It’s the curse of us ‘90s kids. What are some of your favorite aspects of the ‘80s?
Emily Blue: Everything was big: Big hair, big songs, big productions. Some of the aspects of the 80s are cheesy and ridiculous and I connect to that as well, I’ve always loved exaggerated fashion and surprising musical choices. It’s so fun to pull from that era and combine it with my more modern taste as well, like heavy autotune, glitched out pop production, and high definition video technology.
Do you feel nostalgia for this decade, or some other primary emotion? What motivates your inspiration?
Emily Blue: I absolutely do feel nostalgia for this decade, primarily because it was pre-social media and I feel people were more present in their art. I seek to be present in the process of making my music, and diving head-on into these vibes has allowed me to be more free of distraction. I just want to immerse myself in my music and not worry about what others think on social media, so I use the past as my primary inspiration.
How did the video’s inspiration come about, and how do you feel it elevates and adds to the meaning of the song?
Emily Blue: The entire video treatment popped into my head late at night– I knew I wanted to do a party scene with a woman actress, I knew I wanted to make a heaven dreamscape, and I knew I wanted some iconic fashion choices with a performance scene. It all tied together so nicely, and I think it looks exactly like what the song sounds like.
What do you hope listeners take away from “7 Minutes”?
Emily Blue: I hope they take away joy, dancing, love. I know it’s such a hard time right now. I don’t say it lightly that this song has gotten me through a lot, and so have my listeners. It’s the last song I made with Max Perenchio (my friend who passed away recently) and I hope they hear his spirit in the track. He was one of my best friends and I’ll hold onto this tune forever.
This is one of your last collaborations with Max Perenchio. Can you tell us a bit about who he was to you, and where we can feel and hear his presence in your music?
Emily Blue: Max was one of my closest friends, and definitely the person I had the most fun with during the process of recording, writing, etc. We would laugh so hard together and get deep into our ideas. My favorite sessions were the ones that felt completely limitless, where anything goes, and we just made things that stretched our creativity. I felt like a kid hanging out with him and that is something I’ll never forget.
In the music you can hear him specifically in the guitar, the dynamic range of the songs, and the use of ‘real estate’ so to speak – using the time in a song efficiently is important to both of us. We liked to tell stories and create little journeys for our listeners.
This is the first off your upcoming '80s revival record. For the unacquainted, what does '80s revival mean?
Emily Blue: I think the ‘80s are making a huge comeback in pop music and general fashion trends as well– I wouldn’t necessarily classify the whole record as 80s revival, but certain stand-out tracks like 7 Minutes have a very classic feeling to them. I love the bold, big choices made in 80s music, and I’ve definitely been inspired by icons like Heart, Sade, Cyndi Lauper, Pat Benetar, etc. Embodying that fierceness in my music, and feeling adventurous with my fashion, has been great.
What can we expect to hear in The Afterlove? Is this a concept album, or a set of songs dealing with love and romance?
Emily Blue: It’s more or less a concept album. It definitely surrounds different stages in relationships, especially what it’s like when you’ve lost someone. I tie a lot of the feelings back to Max, and am writing a song specifically about mourning one of my friends. I haven’t even fully recorded that one yet because the wound is extremely fresh. On the other hand, this record has empowering dance tracks that discuss feeling free, independent, and loving yourself. I think self-love can be extremely romantic and beautiful, and we all need the songs to get us through the hard times.
Since we're all about the '80s here, I thought we could have some fun embracing the decade we'll never fully know. What are your favorite '80s...
Fashion styles: Giant curly hair and curly bangs, of course!
Movies: I really enjoy The Princess Bride, Heathers, and Die Hard.
Songs: “Alone” by Heart, “Like a Prayer” by Madonna, “I Believe” by Tears for Fears, and any Phil Collins track!
Albums: Tears for Fears — Songs from the Big Chair, Madonna — Like a Prayer, Heart — Bad Animals
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:: stream/purchase “7 Minutes” here ::
Stream: “7 Minutes” – Emily Blue
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