In 2020, it’s an absolute rarity for an album to ‘last’ two years. Australian singer-songwriter Jessica Anne Newham, known by her stage name Betty Who, keeps the tradition alive. She released her album Betty exactly one year ago, but the first single already came out in January 2018. Three more singles followed ahead of the long-player. Often, nowadays, the album release signals the end of a marketing cycle, but Betty Who had one more trick up her sleeve.

Over one year after single #4, she just released one more track off the record. One with a great story and one that ticks all the right boxes. The tune is called The One, and it was designed to make Who feel like ‘the love child that Britney and Justin never had’. She explains: “It was the music that I grew up on and to this day still some of my favourite music in the world. It has influenced me for so long that I wanted to pay tribute to that era of pop. I used to be upset when I was a kid that I wasn’t a boy, because it meant I couldn’t be in a boy band. I didn’t want to be in a girl band, I wanted to be in a boy band. So… this one’s for you 10 year old Betty Who.”

Mission accomplished, I’d say. The One perfectly re-creates the Max Martin sound that catapulted everyone from Backstreet Boys to Britney Spears into pop mainstream. A great homage.

Recommended as well:
Betty Who – All Things

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Werner Schlosser

I’m a music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a CD club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Have been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, I developed the European Border Breakers Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart. CEO of Werner Bros. tekst | uitleg.