Letters from a Broken Heart

"Letters from a Broken Heart" is a song by American singer-songwriter Elice Claire from her third studio album Carpe Diem. Produced by Isabella Summers and Elice Claire, and written by Claire, it was released as the album's first single in the United States on 7 May 2012. The song was released a promotional digital download single in the UK on 10 September 2012. Claire revealed "Letters from a Broken Heart" was inspired by her father. The promotional artwork for the single was revealed by Pop Justice on 10 April 2012. Critical reception of the song has been positive.

Background and release
The song was written by Elice Claire while production was handled by Isabella Summers and Claire. Elice premiered the song on her official vimeo channel on 21 April 2012. Speaking about the song, Claire told MTV North America, "The whole thing is just surreal and in a way but also real in another. The lyrics is obviously personal but the sound is so mystical." Claire decided on releasing the song as the opening single for the album in the United States, citing that it was a perfect introduction to her new sound. Composition wise, "Letters from a Broken Heart" is a melancholy powerhouse alternative ballad inspired by events that happened in Elice’s life. The song reflects her emotions towards losing her father last year. From an ominous opening which Elice writes about mourning on her father’s grave while the world feeds on the news of her loss and sucks out all her energy (portrait by the devil trying to allure her to hell) to her reminiscing her father’s last promise that she would be alright. Elice hopes to inspire people by showing that even in the darkest hours of their lives, there is hope to be found.

Critical reception
The song received positive reviews from critics. Candice Smith of RollingStone praised the song saying that it has "thumping stadium drums and sounds like it has the US charts in its epic crosshairs." Similarly, Jensen Mayer of New York Times said, "Big enough to bring a stadium audience to its knees, it's more original and less generic than anything she has done before." furthermore adding "This could be a revolution for Elice, we can finally take her serious after she herself announced she was not a true musician." In another review of the single, Jelly from MTV Canada graded it with four out of five stars saying, "she sings with such emotion over a neo-gothic piano riff, before letting it all pour out on a chorus of sweeping strings and crashing cymbals. The result is just phenomenal, and we can surely forget anything Elice has done before with such masterpiece." NME Magazine's Daniel Cole called the song "gorgeous... [and] easily one of the best ballads Elice has done yet".

Music video
Pictures of Elice shooting a video at a beach surfaced the web in the beginning of April, at the time, no one knew she was shooting a music video. On April 21, Elice uploaded a poster onto Twitter that said the video would be premiering on Vevo May 26. A few days after Elice announced the video would be premiere in May, she made another announcement on her twitter, saying her manager pushed the premiere to April 26. Four days prior to the premiere of the video, Claire posted a countdown on her twitter with stills of the video. The music video received its official premiere on the singer's Vevo account. Within 24 hours of release, the video gained more than 5 million views.

Synopsis
The video opens with someone tossing paper into a fireplace. You can hear a clock ticking in the background as the camera focuses on a candle being blown out by the wind… The scene fades to black as the song starts to play. It’s an early winter evening, the sun is beginning to set; from a distance, you can see someone looking at a tombstone in a cemetery. The camera slowly comes closer as the person leaves… The camera shows a close view of the grave, a red rose and a picture of Elice and her father was left there. The scene changes and it shows red-headed Elice walking down the street crying. From behind, you can see the day turning into night. The camera shows a green left on the ground, as Elice passes by it, the green left turns black. As the chorus kicks in, flashbacks start playing as Elice is walking down the street. First flashback shows Elice running in a beautiful open field. The scene quickly changes view, now we see this huge field; Elice running around as if she was being chased by someone. Scene changes and it shows Elice from a closer angle, she turns around smiling. Elice is seen walking down the street again. She wraps her arms around herself trying to keep warm. The camera shows Elice from a higher angle, and you can see shadows chasing her from behind and attacking her shadow. Scene changes and it shows a black crow sitting on a tree branch watching Elice walk. As passes by, the crow flies away and the tree is set on fire. Another flashback plays. This time Elice is walking in the beach. She is watching the sun set. Scene changes and it shows Elice sitting down on the sand. From a far view, Elice’s silhouette is seen alone in the beach. She leans to her side and the scene changes again. Now the camera gets a closer angle, as Elice slowly turns her head to her side smiling. Elice is once again seen walking down the street. A view from behind, shows Elice’s path in complete darkness. She reaches a small walking bridge and stops. The camera shows a close view of Elice’s face. She wipes off a tear and smile. The camera shows a view from behind Elice. In the end of the bridge there is a bright light. Elice starts to cross the bridge as the scene fades white. Now we go back to the beginning of the video. An old man (meant to be Elice’s father) is burning pages from a notebook. Scene changes again and it shows the red rose Elice left on her father’s grave. The rose wilted and turned white. Scene changes one more time and it show a little girl running in an open field with her father. Scene changes once again and it shows a little girl in the beach with her father (both reflections from the [Chorus], this time Elice as a child). Elice is seen crossing the bridge and going towards the lights.

Symbolism
Many fans were able to figure out some of the symbolism presented in the music video. On 3 May 2012, Elice revealed all the symbolism on her official website. In the beginning of the video, a pieces of paper is seen being tossed into the fire, that symbolizes Elice's sad diary entries about her dad's final days. The red-headed Elice is supposed to be Elice in her dark days and in depression. The red rose shown at her father's grave in the beginning of the video is meant to be her grief, when it turns white it represents hope for Elice. The darkness that follows Elice are the evils of the world (the media) following her and trying to get news. The crow watching her is meant to be Elice's suppose "friends" who didn’t have the best interest at heart. The dark shadows fighting with her shadow is the grief and sadness destroying Elice in the inside. The light in the end of the bridge as Elice stands there is meant to be her choice to move on with her life. In the end of the video, when Elice crosses the bridge and walks into the light, it symbolizes her choice to move on with her life.

Track listing

 * US Promotional disc
 * 1) "Letters from a Broken Heart" – 4:31
 * 2) "Letters from a Broken Heart" (Instrumental) – 4:28


 * Digital download
 * 1) "Letters from a Broken Heart" – 4:31


 * UK Digital single
 * 1) "Letters from a Broken Heart" – 4:31
 * 2) "Safe Haven" (Live at the Urapopstar Awards 22) – 4:03