Artist
Natalia Kills Ft. Will.I.Am
Why we feature this artist A bright pop surface with a knowing eye on what it costs Free gives Natalia Kills a deliberately glossy setting for a song preoccupied with money, appearance and the ability to look untroubled by either. The 2011 featured version wit…
- From
- United Kingdom, United States
- Sound
- dance-pop
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The artist, in context
The story of Natalia Kills Ft. Will.I.Am
Why we feature this artist
A bright pop surface with a knowing eye on what it costs
Free gives Natalia Kills a deliberately glossy setting for a song preoccupied with money, appearance and the ability to look untroubled by either. The 2011 featured version with will.i.am belongs to the Perfectionist period, where an immediate electronic hook can carry a sharper attitude underneath its polished surface.
The title and the subject pull in different directions
The recording's appeal begins in the tension between its easy, celebratory sound and its interest in spending, status and presentation. Kills delivers the central idea with enough composure for the wit to remain audible. The song sounds playful without needing the listener to take every statement at face value.
The production gives the vocal a regular, bright framework. Short melodic figures and a clear rhythmic pulse make the refrain easy to locate, while the arrangement leaves room for changes in vocal texture. The electronic finish serves the song's fascination with surfaces rather well.
The guest changes the voice in the room
Will.i.am's featured passage introduces another manner of delivery, providing a more rhythmically direct interruption to Kills's melodic lead. Universal's contemporary announcement identifies him as the guest on the single, and the original album editions preserve that explicitly credited version.
The wider single campaign followed during 2011, with the song remaining part of Perfectionist's particular mix of polished pop and uneasy glamour. Free works because its confidence has a slightly performed quality. The refrain offers the pleasure of looking composed, while the words keep returning to the effort and money required to maintain that impression.
Essential releases
Free — featured version
The Perfectionist-era recording adds will.i.am’s separately credited guest passage to Natalia Kills’s glossy, self-aware pop setting.