Vanity (Ali Ali song)

"Vanity" is the debut single by Swedish recording artist Fergie Andersson otherwise known as Ali Ali. Upon her discovery as backup vocals on track "Rainstorm", Ali Ali immediately took to twitter to start hyping the release of her debut song. She began by telling everybody that she had indeed recorded a song and was prepared to release it. After quite some hype through multiple radio and youtube interviews as well as a very decent pre-order rate, the single dropped for public purchase on January 7, 2017. The song is an interesting blend of synth and bass with enchantingly seductive vocals with vulnerable yet light-hearted lyricism. Vanity was meant to be the lead single of Ali Ali's debut album Matriarch but was replaced as lead single by fellow single Fog Light because it was "just a taste of what was to come".

Background and Release
Ali Ali hyped this track for the entirety of the first week of January 2017 before it's release at the end of the week on January 7th, 2017. Although otherwise unknown and without-fans, the song received a quite decent debut reception with help from the fanbase of Charli XCX who were interested to see what original material that Fergie would churn out after aiding Charli with her tracks. It has been mentioned by Fergie that this track is the first she ever wrote that she felt proud of and so she decided it was the only track worthy of being her debut single.

Composition
This track features a synth-pop base with a seductive bass kick, especially in the chorus. The song starts thin and seductive with almost whispered vocalization to compliment the sensual beat flow. As the pre-chorus comes in, the instrumental elevates to have more of a hands-on kick complimented by vocals which pick up in sound and flavor. The choruses are heightened further by an infectious bassline which rides it's journey throughout the song and seemingly-effortless vocals which manage to seamlessly mold the song into one. Andersson makes use of her lower vocal register, creating a romantic and sexual atmosphere throughout the song.

Lyrically, the song is about the loss of insecurity through sex and sexual intercourse. It goes through many shifts of the narrator fighting with themselves internally, deciding they are beautiful and desirable one minute but ugly and insecure the next. There is an underlying feeling of self-deprecation and self-degrading within the lyrics, but it manages to hide the darker themes of insecurity by jumping in with a more light-hearted choice of words the moment things take a turn for the more grim.

Music Video
The music video for "Vanity" was released on January 16th, 2017. It stars Fergie alongside a dashing male co-star Henry Bregoli. It was co-directed by Fergie and Queendom Recordings visual and creative director Emilia Steele.

Synopsis
The music video features a young Ali, at a neon house party looking miserable and uncomfortable yet fierce in design, wearing a flower-printed blazer with a glittery leotard. She looks across the room to a young man, being lit up by a pink "fairy light", glittery and spectacular. They make way to eachother. In a second scene, Fergie is obscurely dancing and swaying in an underground tunnel lit up by neon blue lights as her love interest watches. They kiss under a second pink light which carries the video into a sex scene coated in psychedelic, trippy images yet creating a raw and vulnerable feel with both the actors. The music video carries on with the two dancing obscurely in both the house party and tunnel scenes, as well as making love surrounded by psychedelic images. In the end of the video, however, in all three scenes, the boy disintegrates into thin air, although Ali continues on dancing, looking unfazed.

Cover Art
The cover artwork for the single features a young lady, presumably Fergie, standing with butterflies emerging from her drawers. Layered on top is her signature logo and the song title, as well as a warning depicting the song's explicit nature. Fergie explained the cover, saying that the butterflies emerging from her bottoms depicted both the loss of innocence and insecurity, matching with the song's theme. It represents both the good and bad sides of the song's meaning. Butterflies were later coined to be a huge part of Fergie's visual and conceptual aesthetic and "The Butterflies" went on to become the official name of the Ali Ali fandom.