One Life (No Angels song)

"One Life"
Single by No Angels
from the album Welcome to the Dance
Released	August 21, 2009 (see release history)
Format	CD single, ring tone, digital download
Recorded	Monarch Music and Inner Court Studio, New Jersey, United States; CI Music Studios, Berlin, Germany
Genre	Dance-pop, electropop
Length	3:38
Label	Polydor/Universal
Writer(s)	Nasri Atweh, Hakim Bell, Nadja Benaissa, Lucy Diakovska, Akene Dunkley, Adam Messinger, Sandy Mölling, Jessica Wahls
Producer	Hakim Bell, Akene Dunkley; Nasri Atweh, Adam Messinger (co-production)
No Angels singles chronology
"Disappear" (2008) "One Life" (2009) . . .
Alternative covers Promotional single cover

"One Life" is a song by German pop band No Angels. It was written by American musicians Nasri Atweh, Hakim Bell, Adam Messinger, Akene "The Champ" Dunkley, and group members Nadja Benaissa, Lucy Diakovska, Sandy Mölling, and Jessica Wahls for their fifth regular studio album Welcome to the Dance (2009). Produced by Bell and Dunkley, featuring additional production by Atweh and Messinger, the anthemic, self-manifesto song was created as a request to celebrate life, featuring autobiographical elements lyrically.^[1]

Musically, "One Life" introduced a change in sound for the quartet, as the track took the band's work further into the contemporary dance-pop and electropop genre predominantly associated with the introduction of the Welcome to the Dance album (2009).^[1] Well-received by critics, who acclaimed the development of the No Angels, it was premiered live at a concert in St. Pölten, Austria on July 3, 2009 and released as the album's first and only single on CD single and as digital download on August 21, 2009.^[2]

"One Life" debuted at number fifteen on the German Singles Chart, making it the band's fifteenth top twenty entry there, and number twenty-nine on the Ö3 Austria Top 40.^[3] While it completely failed to chart in Switzerland, the song became the band's first leading single to miss the German top five on the national chart.^[4]

Background

One of the first songs ever all four band members jointly started writing lyrics for, "One Life" was written during the second out of five separate studio sessions for the Welcome to the Dance album.^[5] Conceived during a creative session in Berlin, Germany in September 2009, the band began to work on melodic ideas for the song over an instrumental track by New Jersey hip-hop producers Hakim "Prince Hakim" Bell, son of Robert Bell, and Akene "The Champ" Dunkley, both of them having previously worked with the group's management mates Kool & The Gang.^[6] In an interview with NWZ, Lucy Diakovska said that the team developed the concept of the song through mutual discussions.^[1] When asked about the meaning of the lyrics, she explained: "Well, we've never done anything hoping that it would materialize later. Now is now. Now is the moment, you exist. Later? What is later? Just live the moment and make the best of it."^[1] Nadja Benaissa added: "The song is about having only one life, never knowing what future brings next [...] and that's why you should live your life and enjoy it, even when you're in trouble."^[1]

On May 14, 2009, Bell announced via Twitter that the first single from the album would be "One Life," his only contribution to Welcome to the Dance.^[7] On their decision to release the track as the leading single, Diakovska further explained: "The song was done and we immediately knew: That's the track. That's the first single. That's the song that represents the album best [...] and everyone will love it, not just because it's positive but it radiates everything great in life."^[1]

Music video

An accompanying music video for "One Life" was filmed in Berlin on July 8, 2009, and directed by Ole Ziesemann. It was fully premiered on German music television network VIVA on July 31, 2009.^[8]

Choreographed by Marco da Silva, a former backing dancer of the group, it features the four members of the band in individual shots, with Sandy Mölling performing in a narrow passage with glove-wearing hands caressing her from every direction, and Nadja Benaissa laying on top of neon lights stake, that she noted an ironic remark on her April 2009 arrest and the subsequent media scandal.^[1] Lucy Diakovska and Jessica Wahls each are seen performing individual dance routines with male dancers, dressed in either black overalls or pink light bulbs.^[8] During the chorus' the quartet can be seen wearing two-color ski suits, dancing in a highly stylized manner.^[8]

Formats and track listings

These are the formats and track listings of major single-releases of "One Life."

CD maxi single

1. "One Life" (single version) – 3:38
2. "One Life" (pure version) – 3:40

Credits and personnel

• Vocals: N. Benaissa, L. Diakovska, S. Mölling, J. Wahls
• Produced by: Hakim Bell and Akene "The Champ" Dunkley
• Co-produced by: Nasri & the Messinger
• Executive producer: Koolmanagement GmbH, Khalid Schröder
• Instrumentation and programming: A. Dunkley and H. Bell
• Recorded at: Monarch Music and Inner Court Studio, New Jersey, United States, CI Music Studios, Berlin, Germany
• Mixing: Adam Messinger
• Mastering: Götz-Michael Rieth

Live performances

The band has performed the track live at the following events:

• Sankt Pölten Stadtfest – July 3, 2009 (world premiere)
• Sat.1-Frühstücksfernsehen – August 21, 2009 (accoutic version)
• The Dome – August 21, 2009 (broadcasted on September 5, 2009)
• ZDF Fernsehgarten – August 23, 2009
• KI.KA Live – September 3, 2009
• Stars for Free – September 5, 2009
• TV Total Stockcar Challenge Qualifying – October 9, 2009
• Die Neue Hitparade - October 10, 2009 (broadcasted on November 7, 2009)
• Austria's Next Topmodel - November 25, 2009

Charts

Chart (2009)	Peak position
German Singles Chart[4]	15
Ö3 Austria Top 40[3]	29

Release history

Format	Date
internet leak	July 16, 2009[2]
mainstream radio	July 17, 2009[9]
CD single, digital download	August 21, 2009[2]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f g} "No Angels - One Life (Promotion)" (in German). Amazon. http://www.amazon.de/gp/mpd/permalink/m3OQ8BEFTB2K7X. Retrieved 2009-08-22. 
2. ^ ^{a b c} "No Angels - Neue Single und Album in 2009!" (in German). Ofifical Website. 2009-07-15. http://www.noangels-music.de/. Retrieved 2010-05-24. 
3. ^ ^{a b} "NO ANGELS - ONE LIFE (SONG)" (in German). AustrianCharts. http://austriancharts.at/showitem.asp?interpret=No+Angels&titel=One+Life&cat=s. Retrieved 2009-09-02. 
4. ^ ^{a b} "No Angels zurück in den Charts!". Official Website. Retrieved on 2009-09-01.
5. ^ "Neue Maxi-CD One Life ab 21.08.2009 im Handel!" (in German). Smago!. 2009-07-19. http://www.smago.net/no-angels-neue-maxi-cd-one-life-ab-21082009-im-handel,,,,44454.html. Retrieved 2009-08-24. 
6. ^ "Prince Hakim talks about being in the studio with No Angles". YouTube. 2009-07-28. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEdrjrz-A_U. Retrieved 2009-08-24. 
7. ^ "Prince Hakim". Twitter. 2009-05-17. http://twitter.com/princehakim. Retrieved 2009-08-24. 
8. ^ ^{a b c} "Aufregende Zeiten" (in German). Sandy.tv. 2009-07-06. http://sandy.tv/. Retrieved 2009-07-07. 
9. ^ "Universal Music Domestic-Pressenewsletter 30/09" (in German). Schattenblick. 2009-07-22. http://www.schattenblick.de/infopool/musik/fakten/mflb2158.html. Retrieved 2009-07-24. 

External links

• NoAngels-Music.de – official site