Follow the Sun

"Follow the Sun" is a song by Spanish-born singer/songwriter Regina Harper for her second studio album, Serenity. The song was written by Regina and produced by both Regina and Jeff Bhasker. The track was released as the album's second and final single on May 19th 2014. Initially considered to be the album's first single, "Follow The Sun" was chosen as the second single to be released from the album in May 2014 due to the obvious summer-feel of the song. On May 25th 2014, it officially debuted at #6 on the Urapopstar Singles Charts, becoming Regina's first single to miss the top 5.

Background
"Follow the Sun" was written and recorded for Serenity in late August 2013. Regina claims she went into the studio with Jeff Bhasker with the aim of recording a song that would be a hit single. The first song they came up with was "Soft Grunge", eventually released as the album's first single. The second song they did together was "Follow the Sun". About the process of creating the track, Regina said: "I know I go on and on about how I'm this authentic singer/songwriter and I hate mainstream music and blah blah blah, but at the end of the day a good song is a good song. And I knew that I needed a 'hit' in order to sell the album or I'd end up suffering a sophomore slump. So I sat down with Jeff and was like 'I wanna create a song that's basically what Avril Lavigne should be doing, but isn't. That kind of bratty pop-rock thing. But still very Regina'. It was an odd kind of request, but I knew what it sounded like in my mind. Eventually, we came up with 'Soft Grunge' and 'Follow the Sun' and I haven't looked back since. They're great songs and I'm so proud to have them as part of my discography'." Regina claims the huge gap between the release of "Soft Grunge" and "Follow the Sun" was due to her commitment to Initiate, an ABC Television show in which Regina plays the main character. "Shooting for Initiate kinda got in the way of my music plans", says the singer, "But it worked out for the best because the song is so summery, releasing it in May works out really well".

Composition
"Follow the Sun" is a pop-rock track. The song uses mostly guitar and drums for it's instrumental, although there are some synthesizers present in the final chorus. Regina herself plays the drums in the song, something she did quite a lot of for other tracks on Serenity also. Speaking about the production of the song, Regina claims that the production was worked around the melody, rather than doing both side by side.

Critical Reception
Upon the release of Serenity, "Follow the Sun" received mixed to positive reviews. Regina's fanbase praised the song and made #FollowTheSun a worldwide trending topic on Twitter. MTV gave the track a negative review, stating that: "It goes against everything Regina has told us she believes in. It's selling-out. And that's just distasteful no matter how good the track is. If you can't practice what you preach, then don't bother". Entertainment Weekly contributor Kayleigh Hudson described the song as "a strong punch of GIRL POWER in the neck" and cited it as "a song Regina should be remembered for in years to come". NME also gave the track a positive review, claiming that the post-chorus was an obvious highlight.

Music Video
Just like the video for "Soft Grunge", Regina directed the video for "Follow the Sun" by herself. The singer came up with the video's concept in February 2014 and recorded footage for it up until late April. The video premiered on May 5th 2014 on the singer's official VEVO channel. The video is mostly backstage/behind the scenes footage of Regina, giving her fans a look into her everyday life. The clips where collected over the course of twelve weeks and put together by Harper herself. Regina's daughter, Sylvia, makes an appearance in the video as does her father, Carlos. The video received positive reviews upon it's premiere, many citing it as "refreshing" and "entertaining".

Track listing

 * Digital Download
 * 1) "Follow the Sun"


 * Digital EP
 * 1) "Follow the Sun"
 * 2) "Follow the Sun" (Instrumental)
 * 3) "Soft Grunge" (Freemason's BubblegumBlog Dub)
 * 4) "Follow the Sun" (Acoustic)


 * 12" Vinyl
 * 1) "Follow the Sun"
 * 2) "Follow the Sun" (Instrumental)