"Flashbacks" | ||||
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Single by Inna | ||||
from the album Heartbreaker | ||||
Released | 20 January 2021 | |||
Recorded | November 2020 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 2:57 | |||
Songwriter(s) | ||||
Producer(s) |
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Inna singles chronology | ||||
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Music video | ||||
"Flashbacks" on YouTube |
"Flashbacks" is a song recorded by Romanian singer Inna for her seventh studio album, Heartbreaker (2020). It was written by Inna and Minelli alongside its producers Sebastian Barac, Marcel Botezan, David Ciente and Alexandru Cotoi. On 20 January 2021, the song was serviced as the lead single of the album to Romanian radio stations. An electropop and EDM-inspired electro dance and dance-pop track, it is driven by a piano loop and slap bass. Lyrically, the song talks about a woman struggling to let go of her love interest who is far away.
Two music critics gave positive reviews of "Flashbacks" upon release, with one singling it out as his favorite track on Heartbreaker. An accompanying music video was directed by Bogdan Păun and uploaded to the singer's YouTube channel on 26 February 2021. Filmed at the Palazzo Versace Dubai and at Domeniul Manasia in Romania, it portrays Inna in various settings, wearing a sparkling silver outfit. Commercially, the song experienced success, reaching the top position in Russia, and the top ten in Romania, Bulgaria, Ukraine and the Commonwealth of Independent States.
"Flashbacks" was written by Elena Alexandra Apostoleanu (Inna) and Minelli alongside its producers Sebastian Barac, Marcel Botezan, David Ciente and Alexandru Cotoi. [1] It is part of Inna's seventh studio album Heartbreaker, [2] which was recorded during a three-week period in November 2020 at a rented Bucharest mansion with two recording studios in which Inna resided with the songwriters and producers mentioned. [3] [4] [5] [6]
"Flashbacks" was released as part of the album for streaming to YouTube and SoundCloud by Global Records on 27 November 2020, while being issued to fellow platforms and released for digital download a week later under the same label. [2] [7] [8] On the later occasion, Global Records also released all of the album's songs—including "Flashbacks"—as promotional singles. [9] On 20 January 2021, the track was sent to Romanian radio stations as the lead single of Heartbreaker by Global. [10] It was eventually serviced to Italian radio stations on 19 March 2021 by CDF Records. [11] Eleven remixes of the song were further made available. [upper-alpha 1]
Music critics described "Flashbacks" as an electro dance and dance-pop song with elements of electropop and EDM. [12] [13] Dance-Charts' Manuel Probst singled the track out as his favorite song on Heartbreaker and noticed "atmospheric" sounds, a piano loop and slap bass in its composition. [13] Zangba Thomson from Bong Mines Entertainment described the song as a "heartfelt tune" containing "ear-welcoming vocals" and "tuneful melodies", while saying it tells an "intriguing" tale about an insecure and confused woman who struggles to let go of a special person in her life that she is miles apart from and shares memories with.
Lyrics from the song include: "I'm on the road, empty and cold to a distant destination I don't know / Been thinking about you, we back in days of all / It's hard to admit it, I still miss you, miss you so" and "Flashbacks of our memories, the past is my enemy, and I'm drowning in a sad melody / Flashbacks of our memory, the past is my enemy / It keeps holding, holding on me / Come break the silence." [12] Upon entering the Shazam chart in Russia, [14] the song experienced commercial success on the radio ranking in the region, peaking at number one. [15] It also reached number two in the Commonwealth of Independent States, [16] number three in Ukraine, [17] number four in Romania, [18] and number seven in Bulgaria. [19]
A music video for "Flashbacks" was uploaded to Inna's YouTube channel on 26 February 2021, [20] with it being sent to Romanian television channels on 24 March 2021. [10] It was directed by Bogdan Păun and filmed in early 2021 at the Palazzo Versace Dubai and at Domeniul Manasia in Romania. The production was handled by Loops Production, while Alexandru Mureșan acted as the director of photography. [21] Make-up, hair and outfits were done by Anca Buldur, Adonis Enache and RDStyling, respectively. [22] The video switches between color and sepia scenes and shows Inna wearing a sparkling silver dress and boots in different settings—lying on a couch and in a bathtub, walking inside a hotel, placing her head outside of the window of a moving car in traffic, and frustratingly screwing up her make-up in front of a mirror. [20] For further promotion, Inna performed "Flashbacks" live for Radio ZU on 15 April, [23] as well as during her Summer Live Sessions series on YouTube on 3 August 2021. [24] For Pro TV's 2021 New Year's Eve televised event ProTevelion, Inna performed the track live along with "De dragul tău" (2021). [25]
Weekly charts
| Monthly charts
Year-end charts
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Country | Date | Format(s) | Label(s) | Ref. |
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Various | 4 December 2020 [upper-alpha 2] | Global | [9] | |
Romania | 20 January 2021 | Radio airplay | [10] | |
Italy | 19 March 2021 | CDF | [11] |
Elena Alexandra Apostoleanu, known professionally as Inna, is a Romanian singer. Born in Mangalia and raised in Neptun, she studied political science at Ovidius University before meeting the Romanian trio Play & Win and pursuing a music career. She adopted the stage name "Alessandra" and a pop-rock style in 2008; later that year, she changed her stage name to "Inna" and began releasing house and popcorn music. "Hot" (2008), her debut single, was a commercial success worldwide and topped the Romanian and Billboard's Hot Dance Airplay chart, among others. Her debut studio album of the same name followed in August 2009 and was certified Gold and Platinum. It featured several other successful singles in Europe, including "Amazing" (2009), the singer's second number-one single in Romania.
Hot is the debut studio album by Romanian singer Inna, released on 4 August 2009 by Magic Records. Inna collaborated on the record with Romanian trio Play & Win, who entirely wrote, produced and arranged Hot at their Play & Win Studios in Constanța, Romania. It was described as an electronic dance music (EDM) album, with influences varying from trance, electro house and techno to Hi-NRG, synth-pop and chillout. Lyrically, Hot deals with love themes. Music critics gave the album positive to mixed reviews, praising the danceable style but criticizing its lack of innovation. At the 2010 Romanian Music Awards, Hot won in the Best Album category, while also receiving an award at the 2011 Radio România Actualităţi Awards in the Pop/Dance Album of the Year section.
"Love" is a song recorded by Romanian singer Inna for her debut studio album, Hot (2009). It was released as the second single from the record on 16 February 2009. Written and produced by Play & Win members Sebastian Barac, Radu Bolfea and Marcel Botezan, "Love" is an EDM and house track. Its lyrics revolve around the potential complications related with love. The song was described as containing high-pitched vocals by one reviewer, as well as compared to the work of English rock band New Order. Another critic foresaw the single to be commercially successful.
"Amazing" is a song recorded by Romanian singer Inna for her 2009 debut studio album, Hot. It was released as the fourth single from the record on 6 August 2009. Written and produced by Play & Win members Sebastian Barac, Radu Bolfea and Marcel Botezan, "Amazing" is a Pop Music track with a Spanish guitar and beats in its instrumentation. One reviewer regarded the song as being similar to Inna's past work, however, with the addition of new elements. Other music critics gave positive reviews of the single, and praised its construction and foresaw its commercial success.
"Déjà Vu" is a song by Romanian musician Bob Taylor and Romanian recording artist Inna for the latter's debut studio album, Hot (2009). Released in June 2009, it was written and produced by Sebastian Barac, Radu Bolfea and Marcel Botezan. Musically, the single is of the dance genre, and originally contained the vocals of Romanian singer Alessia. However, after a feud over compensation between Taylor and her, the song was handed to Inna, although the early version had already been released.
"10 Minutes" is a song recorded by Romanian singer Inna for her debut studio album, Hot (2009), featuring Romanian trio Play & Win. It was released as the fifth and final single from the record on 25 January 2010. Written and produced by Play & Win members Sebastian Barac, Radu Bolfea and Marcel Botezan, "10 Minutes" is a synth-pop and electropop track stylized to fit the style of music consumed in the United States. Its style was also regarded as a departure from her past work by both Inna and one critic.
Romanian singer Inna has released nine studio albums, three compilations, 62 singles and 51 promotional singles. Her YouTube channel surpassed three billion total views as of May 2019. 24 of her singles have reached the top ten in Romania, with "Hot", "Amazing", "Diggy Down", "Bebe", "Up" and "Tare" topping the country's singles chart in 2008, 2009, 2015, 2020, 2021 and 2022, respectively. With global album sales of four million copies from her first three studio albums, Inna is the best-selling Romanian artist.
"Sun Is Up" is a song recorded by Romanian singer Inna for her second studio album, I Am the Club Rocker (2011), and also included on several versions of her debut album Hot (2009). Written and produced by Play & Win members Sebastian Barac, Radu Bolfea and Marcel Botezan, the song was released in October 2010 as the first single from I Am the Club Rocker. "Sun Is Up" is a rave pop track, and was compared to Sabrina's "Boys " (1987) by one reviewer.
Romanian singer Alexandra Stan has released five studio albums, a reissue album, three extended plays, one compilation album, two video albums, two remix albums, 47 singles and 11 promotional singles. Stan's career began in 2009, when music producers Marcel Prodan and Andrei Nemirschi heard her singing at a karaoke bar and signed her to their label, Maan Studio. That same year, she released the promotional song "Show Me the Way". Her debut single, "Lollipop " (2009), reached number 58 in Romania.
Antonia Clara Iacobescu, known professionally as Antonia, is a Romanian singer.
"Be My Lover" is a song recorded by Romanian singer Inna for the deluxe edition of her third studio album, Party Never Ends (2013). It was released on 26 July 2013 through Roton. The track was written by Uli Brenner, Lane McCray, Gerd Amir Saraf and Melanie Thornton, with production handled by Afrojack and METI. Musically, "Be My Lover" encompasses dubstep, electro dance, club and house genres, sampling the 1995 song of the same name by La Bouche, for which Brenner, McCray, Saraf and Thornton received writing credits.
"Cola Song" is a song recorded by Romanian recording artist Inna for Body and the Sun (2015), the Japanese counterpart of her fourth studio album Inna (2015), and the American counterpart of her third studio album, Party Never Ends. It was made available for digital download on 15 April 2014 through Atlantic Records, which was the result of the singer signing a record deal with the label earlier that year. Initially planned to be named "Soy Latinna", the recording contains guest vocals from Colombian reggaeton performer J Balvin, who wrote and produced the song along with Andrew Frampton, Breyan Isaac, Thomas Joseph Rozdilsky and Andreas Schuller. The single is musically an electro house, electronic and Latin track which incorporates saxophone and horn in its instrumentation, and elements from Inna's previous collaboration with Schuller on "Piñata 2014" (2013).
Party Never Ends is the third studio album recorded by Romanian singer Inna, released on 4 March 2013 by Roton, and re-issued on 14 October 2014, by Atlantic Records in the US. The singer collaborated with several producers on the record, including DJ Frank E, Orange Factory, Steve Mac, Lucas Secon, DJ Smash and Play & Win. Party Never Ends has been described as approaching dance music and its subgenres, with influences varying from Latin, hip hop and house to electropop, salsa and dubstep. The Times of India gave the album a mixed review; while commending some tracks, other were deemed passable or mediocre.
"Heaven" is a song recorded by Romanian recording artist Inna, included on the deluxe edition of her fifth studio album Nirvana (2017). It was released for digital download on 10 June 2016 through Roton. The recording was written by Andreas Schuller, Leroy Clampitt, Sebastian Barac, Marcel Botezan, Laila Samulesen, Trey Campbell and Theea Eliza Miculescu, while production was handled by Barac and Botezan. A dance-pop and tropical house recording, the single was generally acclaimed by music critics, who praised it as an earworm with Middle Eastern influences. While reviews noted lyrics in English, French, and Spanish, the singer explained that the refrain was written in a language she invented with her label. At the 2017 Radio România Actualități Awards, "Heaven" was nominated in three categories.
Alexandru Cotoi is a Romanian composer, producer and disc jockey signed by Global Records. Over the years, he has worked with several high-profile singers including Delia, Irina Rimes, Inna and Alexandra Stan. Under the pseudonym Sickotoy, he released the commercially successful songs "Addicted" and "You Don't Love Me" in 2019 with Minelli and Roxen, respectively, which reached the top three on the Romanian Airplay 100 chart.
Heartbreaker is the seventh studio album by Romanian singer Inna. It was released for streaming to YouTube and SoundCloud by Global Records on 27 November 2020, and was issued to fellow platforms and released for digital download a week later under the same label. An EDM, Middle Eastern and Latin-influenced dance-pop release, the album was preceded by Inna's retransition to the EDM genre following the release of Yo (2019), her experimental and gypsy-inspired sixth studio album.
"It Don't Matter" is a song by Brazilian DJ Alok, American house music duo Sofi Tukker and Romanian singer Inna. It was released as an exclusively streamable Spotify Single on 7 May 2021 by Controversia. The track was written by Nick Audino, Charlotte Bühler, Sofi Tukker's Sophie Hawley, Lewis Hughes, OHYES and Alok, while the production was handled by Alok alongside Hughes, OHYES and Sofi Tukker. Musically, "It Don't Matter" has been described as a deep house song by music critics and talks about having thoughts of a special someone regardless of that person's distance. Aided by a lyric video uploaded to YouTube simultaneously with the track's release, "It Don't Matter" reached number 27 on Billboard's US Dance/Electronic Songs chart, as well as the top five in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Hungary, Russia and Poland. It received a gold certification in the latter country and a platinum one in Brazil.
"Rampampam" is a song by Romanian singer and songwriter Minelli, released for digital download and streaming by Global Records on 18 March 2021 as a single. A house track, it was written by Minelli and produced by Viky Red. Lyrically, Minelli discusses a toxic relationship and the other partner's eventual revengeful feelings. Manuel Probst of Dance Charts gave the song a positive review upon release, praising its catchiness and Minelli's vocal delivery.
Champagne Problems is the eighth studio album by Romanian singer Inna. It was released in two parts, Champagne Problems #DQH1 and Champagne Problems #DQH2, that were made available for digital download and streaming through Global Records on 7 January and 11 March 2022, respectively. Recording sessions took place in late 2021 for both releases and was completed in 16 days in a mansion Inna resided in with several Romanian songwriters and producers; such as Sebastian Barac, Marcel Botezan, David Ciente, Alexandru Cotoi, Minelli, Moa Pettersson Hammar and Gustav Nyström. The first release has been described as a primarily dance-pop record that encompasses Latin pop and reggaeton influences.
"Up" is a song recorded by Romanian singer Inna. Global Records sent it to Romanian radio stations on 21 October 2021. Another version of the track with Jamaican rapper Sean Paul was issued on 17 December 2021. "Up" was written by Inna, Sebastian Barac, Marcel Botezan, Alex Cotoi and Minelli, while the production was handled by Barac, Botezan and Cotoi; Paul received additional writing and production credits on his version. "Up" is a dancehall-influenced pop song, with its lyrics describing a healing love.