Amber Bondin No Neverland Malta Eurovision 2015

She’s the Maltese warrior that crashed out in the semi-finals at Eurovision 2015. And while Amber may have lost that particular battle, she’s well on the way to winning the war. On Monday, she dropped the music video for “No Neverland”, the latest single to be taken from her 2016 album Redemption.

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Co-written with the super duo Matt Muxu Mercieca and Elton Zarb, “No Neverland” sees Amber journey into a dark place, quite unlike that evoked in J.M. Barrie’s novel or the Disney movie. “Peter Pan never found Neverland for me”, she sings plaintively, “not for me”.

She’s lost someone dear to her, but she must carry on despite the pain, “the world will keep on turning / the universe is spinning / but my heart stops since you left me”. However, the songstress won’t give up hope, “I’ll meet you in Neverland my baby”.

The music video is no less sombre. Filmed entirely in the shadows, we see our protagonist try to overcome her hurt. She remains in the same gloomy room for the entire clip.

It may be simple, but the overall effect is haunting, with the beautiful lyrics resonating long after Amber’s magical voice has ceased.

AMBER “NO NEVERLAND” (OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO)

Soon after the clip’s release, Amber shared the song’s meaning with her fans.

“Personal & Intimate – these are the words that describe this song best. I guess we have all been through a bad breakup, some which we don’t understand the why until much later. And in that moment that we don’t understand we hope, we hope to at least be reconciled with that special person in Neverland, ironically, the land which does not exist.”

 

As well as featuring on her most recent LP, “No Neverland” is also the closing track for her visual album Alive, The Truth About Neverland. The record went straight to number one on the Maltese iTunes charts upon its release last November. Writing on her personal blog, the singer-songwriter explains the project a little.

“This is my first experience writing an album.  Elton and Muxu engaged me in the whole process from the writing of the lyrics and music to the production of the tracks. There has been a drastic change in my music path.  One of the songs which touches me personally is called “Last Night”.  The style of the song is dubstep with a pinch of reggae. The fact that we have managed to fuse the two styles together made me fall in love with this song even more”

While the fictional Amber may be suffering from the woes of the world, things are going rather well in reality. She recently signed with the Universal Talent Group, the same talent agency that looks after Rebecca Ferguson, Karen Harding and Eurovision stars Katrina Leskanich, Ruth Lorenzo and Bucks Fizz.

“A new journey has begun for me together with Universal Talent Group. Having such a great management company taking care of my career, which is not only highly recognised but also fully dedicated towards its artists is a dream come true,” she told Lovin Malta.

What do you think of the “No Neverland”? Should Amber come back to Eurovision in the future? Let us know in the comments below.

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Purple Mask
Purple Mask
6 years ago

This is BEAUTIFUL and classy.
Songwriters: If you’re going to write a four-chord song, THIS is how to arrange it. No gimmicks or bells and whistles, just a luscious arrangement that ebbs and flows with the melody.

Amber does use a lot of vocal runs when she sings (which can put some people off), but these runs are perfectly judged in this song. As a result, the song feels natural and personal rather than overly forced. Well done to everyone who worked on this; it’s a beautiful piece of music. 🙂