If Adele was reborn as a man and released a ballad in Russian, she might sound something like Sergey Lazarev on his latest hit single “Vdrebezgi” (Shivers).

The contemporary ballad, which frequently draws comparisons to “Skyfall” from the 007 series, is an atmospheric, Old World ballad with plenty of horns, percussion and dramatic swells.

But owing to Sergey’s signature vocals and on-point production, it rests comfortably in 2017. There’s also the faintest hint of R&B as Sergey slows things down by singing in a thrusting, spoken-word way. We approve.

Just two hours after its release on Friday, the song hit #1 on iTunes Russia, riding on the wave laid down by Sergey’s recent singles “Sdavaysya” and “Tak Krasivo”.

The “You Are The Only One” hitmaker was excited, sharing a grab on Instagram of the iTunes charts, which showed him sitting ahead of fellow stars Yulianna Karaulova, Mot and Aljey & Feduk.

“2 hours after the release! In first place!!” he wrote. “It’s incredibly nice!! Thank you very much everyone!”

In an earlier Instagram post, Sergey made it clear that this song isn’t about rainbows and sunshine by sharing an excerpt of the lyrics.

“From melancholy to smithereens, with dreams torn, from melancholy to smithereens, snow melting…”

Well damn. Love doesn’t always work out and Sergey gets that. In the song he lets the sorrow breathe, weaving a story of someone broken into pieces and shivering.

“The worst thing for you is loneliness, your last diary is missing the last pages, hanging in the smoke of silence, you stand on the edge of despair, just one step, everything is somehow wrong…the thoughts fly, poisoned by poison.”

GET THE GOD OF THUNDER AND LIGHTNING SHIRT

Although Sergey has his hands full with the hype campaign for his forthcoming studio album, he’s making an impact elsewhere, too.

He is currently showing off his versatility in the Russian dub of The My Little Pony Move.

The film, which was released to Russian cinemas on October 5, tells the story of Princess Twilight Sparkle, her five friends and assistant dragon. Sergey hasn’t lent his voice to a pony though.

Instead he’s voicing a mischievous alley cat named Capper, a “cunning” but “good-hearted” con artist. Awww.

READ MORE NEW MUSIC REVIEWS

9 Comments
Newest
Oldest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Lizziegal
Lizziegal
6 years ago

Do you comment on every Sergey video yet you seem not to his music?

ella
ella
6 years ago

Thanks for the article, wiwi. I love reading your song reviews.

Sergey should sing more ballads. He is so great singing them, especially live.

Jurgis
Jurgis
6 years ago

With unofficial opportunities such as buying Itunes top positions in Russia I wouldn’t praise Lazarev too much; he’s definitely not comparable to Adele either. And finally, he’s getting too annoying here

ella
ella
6 years ago
Reply to  Jurgis

“he’s getting too annoying here”
Sergey is a charismatic artist, and there are readers on here who are interested to read about him.

Jurgis
Jurgis
6 years ago
Reply to  ella

An artist with no hits.

Plum
Plum
6 years ago
Reply to  Jurgis

You probably have a special idea about hits and artists, whose songs are sang together with him by all the audience, no matter how large the hall may be.

Talentina Monetta
Talentina Monetta
6 years ago

iTunes is irrelevant today henny

Matty
Matty
6 years ago

He’s gorgeous!

Plum
Plum
6 years ago
Reply to  Matty

Absolutely.