Following her new single's premiere at this year's Malta Eurovision Song Contest finals, Ira Losco has just launched the music video for her latest release, We Are The Soldiers. The power ballad, which will feature in the artist's upcoming album, marks her return after an 8-month hiatus.
We Are The Soldiers is Ira's first single release since her participation at the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest in Stockholm, where she placed 1st in the Jury vote and 3rd overall in the Semi-Finals out of 21 countries, eventually placing 4th in the Jury vote and an overall 11th position shared with the Netherlands in the final.
In a post inspired by this week's Azure Window incident, Ira related the sense of loss that many have been expressing online for this natural monument to the message portrayed in her new video, namely that "a scene we were so used to and came to love wasn't there anymore", to which she added that "coincidentally, there is a strong message portrayed by the four protagonists in my music video, that no matter what life or nature throws at us, we should accept it and soldier on. Let's learn to appreciate all that we have because it might be gone in the next minute!”
We Are The Soldiers is Ira's first power ballad in quite a long while, the last one being Idle Motion off 2008'S Fortune Teller album, nearly 10 years ago. The video portrays modern day "soldiers", among them cancer survivor Charlene Mercieca, meningitis survivor and amputee Amy Camilleri Zahra, para-athlete Julian Bajada and visually-impaired track athlete Karl Abela. In a comment, Ira, said "The best way I thought of relaying this message was with running four parallel stories and the positive message of accepting one’s challenge and moving forward in life nonetheless. I am simply the narrator in real life stories. I wanted to celebrate the protagonists. They are real-life soldiers.”
"I absolutely love the song. I was adamant on having a poignant visual to accompany 'We Are The Soldiers.' All the protagonists are undeniably special and have inspired me in their own unique way. Years back I remember visiting Amy with a close friend. Immediately her infectious smile drew me to her. Charlene's story went viral last year and really touched me. Julian and karl whom I recently got to know achieved greatly in their realm and they’re both amazing souls , driven in his goals. I'm just so happy to have these incredible people in this music video. “ She added
The video was shot by Matthew Muscat Drago, paving the way for a string of singles to be released, each accompanied by a music video that will eventually lead up to the release of the new album later this year. "There are currently over 20 tracks vying for a place in the new album. The creative process is long and laborious, but you ultimately end up with so many great songs all worthy of making it to the album." said Howard Keith of Jagged House.
Ira Losco's previous album The Fire has been her most successful to date, receiving rave reviews both locally and abroad. It held the top spot in on the iTunes chart for 28 weeks and remains in the Top 10 to this day, more than 3 years since it was released.