GABRIELLA CILMI | Save The Lies

Available on:
x Gabriella Cilmi - Lessons To Be Learned (2008) CD
x Gabriella Cilmi - Save The Lies (2008) CD-S

Credits:
Written by Gabriella Cilmi, Miranda Cooper, Brian Higgins, Tim Powell, Bob Bradley, Bob Stanley & Pete Wiggs.
EMI Music Publishing Ltd., Warner Chappel, Xenomaniasongs.
Produced by Brian Higgins / Xenomania.
Mixed by Jeremy Wheatley for 365 Artists, assisted by Richard Edgeler.
Keyboards & Programming: Tim Powell, Brian Higgins, Saint Etienne & Miranda Cooper.
Guitars: Nick Coler & Bob Bradley.
(P) 2007 Universal Island Records Ltd. A Universal Music Company.

Single information:
"Save the Lies" was Gabriella Cilmi's second European single, released on August 18th 2008.
Peak position: #33 (UK charts)

Notes:
The song was co-written by Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs from Saint Etienne.

In an interview with the Times, Miranda Cooper described the song as having a "1970s, Rod Stewart strut to it".

REVIEWS:
x The Aussie sounds lean, mean and keen to show you a good time. Combining Sugababes production values with a tune that echoes Kylie & Robbie's Kids, it's pop with attitude. 8/10 Ric Rawlins

x Save the Lies just blows you away, showing a maturity in her voice that demands your attention, with the additional appeal of the unbridled youthful enthusiasm of a 16 year old.
This track brings out the soul diva in Cilmi and she doesn't miss a thing. WebWombat

x There've been a lot of Amy Winehouse comparisons for Cilmi, but album opener Save the Lies sounds more like an early Vanessa Amorosi with more expensive production values and a cheap faux-feminist 'empowering' lyric. It's one of a number of tracks on this album which prevent it from reaching true heights of pop perfection. Ben Convey

x Saturated in Eighties trademarks - worst of all the horrible keyboard, splatting out the track's jazzy melody - Brian Higgins and Miranda Cooper's composition is assembled from a song sheet that had already gone out of fashion before Cilmi was born.
Anastacia (to whom Cilmi bears astonishing similarities, most notably in her contralto voice and noisy growl) gave this commercial soul sound a rebirth in 2000, but otherwise it's been shamefully buried in a big pit full of bat-wing jumpers and Fergie bows.
Plundering the Eighties, though, is the bedrock of manufactured pop these days and, with the writers behind Girls Aloud and The Sugababes behind her, Cilmi is sure to tread this path for a while.
So why three stars? It's got hit running through it like a stick of rock. Shameless hussy. 3/5 Sarah Walters

x This song is catchy enough, with words flying at a thousand miles a minute without any sign of coming to a halt, but it is pretty weak overall. You need fans humming the tune and reciting the words to get it into the charts.
Still, it packs a powerful-ish punch with some quickened electro beats and Gabriella's soulful voice pushed to its very limits. Good on her for breaking the melodic pop mould she could have comfortably fallen into, but not the chart topper a single should be. Spoonfed

x (...) has an infectious quality, this time with a heavily synthed backing track, and swift pace driven forward by Cilmi's commanding vocals. Lisa Sutlieff

x Gabriella Cilmi (...), in spite of her obvious talent, is doing very little to win us over. Having originally fashioned herself as a Petits Filous Amy Winehouse, it seems the disco soul nothingness of Save The Lies is an attempt to drag her in another direction altogether. Now she's an anaemic Anastacia - try saying that five times quickly. The Sloppy Dog

x After wriggling its way up the charts with a lot of help from a deodorant ad, it looked likely to be a one-off smash for the 16-year-old Aussie. But, against the odds, her follow-up single is just as appealing.
A complete U-turn from her subdued debut, this disco-rock stomper has producer Brian Higgins's trademark electro style running right through its core. With plenty of feisty lyrics and a few silly ones ("I'm gonna fly my bike, ride my kite"), not to mention a nifty chorus, 'Save The Lies' recalls the better moments from Girls Aloud and Kylie's recent albums. She may only be a whippersnapper, but Cilmi is already displaying the chameleon-like quality that every popstar needs. Alex Fletcher

LINKS:
x "Save The Lies" video