The Trades - Music Review: Amy Diamond, "It's My Life" (CD Single)

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ARTICLE

Music Review: Amy Diamond, "It's My Life" (CD Single)
by Paul Schultz
Published: April 20, 2009

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Release Date: March 2, 2009
Label: Bonnier Music
Related Sites:
· Official Site
· MySpace Page

Grade: B-

"I'm not the girl I used to be..." Amy Diamond begins on "It's My Life" and it's a sign that things will be different for the teen pop star from Sweden. Written by Alexander Bard, Bobby Ljunggren and Oscar Holter, this song was Amy's entry into Melodifestivalen 2009 (in English, "The Melody Festival"), a music competition organized by Swedish public broadcasters to determine the country's representative for the Eurovision Song Contest, an annual continental event. Amy made her Melodifestivalen debut in 2008, competing with the song "Thank You."

Already, at age seventeen, Amy has released four albums: This Is Me Now (2005), Still Me Still Now (2006), Music in Motion (2007) and En helt ny jul (A Brand New Christmas) (2008). She's had a slew of hit singles and "Stay My Baby," one of her biggest, has been interpreted by Miranda Cosgrove on Music From and Inspired by the Hit TV Show iCarly. Amy was the headline of the Summer 2008 Nickelodeon Tour. She did a song for the direct-to-DVD "Barbie and the Diamond Castle" called "Connected." Although it's performed by Katharine McPhee on the soundtrack, Amy sings it on the Swedish release of the film.

Track Listing

1. It's My Life (3:07)
2 It's My Life (Karaoke/Singback) (3:02)

"It's My Life" starts innocently enough with a piano riff evolving into a pop reggae beat. The piano stabs follow the melody of the vocals with light syncopated keyboard backing. Only when it reaches the chorus does it become full-blown electronic pop. The tempo matches the upbeat topic of girl empowerment, though the line "tell the boys that it's my life when I walk the night" may lead to unintended interpretation.

Amy Diamond jumping on her 17th birthday

Amy is airborne in celebration of her 17th birthday.

Alas, though it shares it's title with hits by Talk Talk, Bon Jovi, No Doubt, The Animals, and The Monkees, "It My Life" for Amy Diamond only peaked at #14 on the Swedish charts. Also, this song didn't take her to the 2009 Melodifestivalen finals. (The winning Swedish entry for the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest was "La Voix" by Malena Ernman.)

Despite these relative setbacks, "It's My Life" is a turn toward a new direction in the music department. With it's dance-floor electro-pop vibe, it is an intriguing preview as she works on her fifth album. In addition to being available as a digital single, "It's My Life" is also included on the official Melodifestivalen 2009 Compilation CD.