Empire of the Falling Stars

"Empire of the Falling Stars" is a song by American singer/songwriter Elice Claire, featured on her third studio album Carpe Diem. Written by Claire and produced by Jon Brion the song was released as the British lead single from the album on 4 June 2012. Critics noted that it features apocalyptic lyrics and chants that reminds people of the Gregorian age. It received positive reception from contemporary critics, who considered the track a good stepping stone to the Alternative-rock sound Elice is going for. This is the first time Elice did not accompanied the single with a physical format.

Background
"Empire of the Falling Stars" is basically a multi-dimensional track when it comes down to its content. The song can be interpreted by the fiasco Elice was involved last year with her manager; him trying to destroy her career and leaking personal intimate pictures. On the other side, the song is heavily interpreted by the idiots who went behind others back and tried to take down Urapopstar. With many metaphors and symbolism, the song is perhaps the definition of baroque pop. Sound wise, the Gregorian chants adds an ominous vibe to the track. This is the track Elice considers the breakeven point from Pop-Elice and Alternative-Elice. Although the (sound/video) posted on the forum has a pop-vibe, the track itself includes extra bass to add an alternative feel to it. The Gregorian chants featured in the intro and along the chorus are made up, while the Outro is the word "goodbye" in different languages.

Composition
"Empire of the Falling Stars" was conceived in 2012, when Chanel's front-man Karl Lgerfeld asked Claire to write an exclusive song for her to perform at his Spring 2012 fashion show in Paris, France. Elice began working on the song in the fall of 201;, at that time Elice was gathering ideas. The singer was already thinking about doing something. Initially, Elice planned to write a historical song about the Egyptian pharaoh Cleopatra VII. In the midst of her writing process, Urapopstar suffered a fall, when an old administrator took over the forum and tried to destroy it. Elice quickly decided to write a song about that event. Since producer, Jon Brian had already completed the track with the dark "Egyptian" sound she had requested, she decided to metaphorically incorporate the idea of an evil dictator trying to destroy an empire (portrait by Octavian in history). During a phone interview with Chris Moyles in April 2012, Elice described the song a multi-dimensional track, having messages.

Critical reception
Following the premiere of the single, Joshua Carlson of Digital Spy commented, "we honestly thought it would be near-impossible for Elice to comeback with anything amazing, but her new cut "Empire of the Falling Stars" – may just have out shined all her previous releases. We are impressed by this new direction she's taking" Giselle Monroe of NME considered the song not "quite as Alternative as Elice described in her interview with the magazine, however it is a good stepping stone for this new sound she's venturing into", while Entertainment Weekly contributor Jennifer Higgins considered it a "beautifully haunting tune". Peter from PopJustice noted "Elice is a great pop singer, let's not forget about that. But we are unsure about this new direction. We do like the track, and it is very chilling and all, but we want the dancy, fun, quirky and slutty Elice we know back." Francis John of musicOMH said the song is "what makes Elice a gem. She is an amazing writer; her use of metaphors in this song is quite brilliant. The Gregorian chants gives such a somber sound that gives chills whenever it is played. This song is fairly extraordinary."

Music video
On April 29, Elice confirmed on her twitter account that the video was shot in March and that it would be premiered in May. The music video premiered on MTV on 28 May 2012. The video was met with acclaim from critics, who praised its visuals, themes, and history. Critics also claimed the video was perhaps Elice's best to date. According directors Adria Petty & Alan Bibby, the music video's cost was of about 1.5 million dollars, making it Elice's second most expensive music video, only behind "Cloud Nine" which costed a little over 2 million dollars. The video depicts Elice as a modern Cleopatra, the queen of Egypt. To unify her empire, she married a ruthless dictator who instead of helping bring together the country, he went on a rampage, spreading a reign of terror. To be able to free herself and her people from the ruthless king, Claire must commit suicide to null their marriage. Elice seeks comfort and help from her handmaiden who arranges her suicide. Much like the story of Cleopatra, Elice uses a venomous snake. She lets the asp bite her, and dies shortly after. The king finds Elice and her handmaidens dead as the video ends with the king breaking down, knowing he had just lost Egypt.

Track listing

 * UK Promotional Disc
 * 1) "Empire of the Falling Stars" (Radio Edit) &mdash; 4:28
 * 2) "Empire of the Falling Stars" (Album Version) &mdash; 5:51


 * Digital Download
 * 1) "Empire of the Falling Stars" (Album Version) &mdash; 5:51
 * 2) "Empire of the Falling Stars" (Instrumental) &mdash; 5:51 [iTunes UK pre-order only]


 * UK Digital Single
 * 1) "Empire of the Falling Stars" (Radio Edit) &mdash; 4:28
 * 2) "Empire of the Falling Stars" &mdash; Music Video

Chart performance
The single opened at number one with sales of 123,124. In its second week, the single dipped to number four, selling another 89,899 copies. On the airplay charts, the song peaked at number one, where it stayed there for three consecutive weeks. On its 13th week, the single received multi-platinum status for selling more than 500,000 copies. By the end of its run, the single sold a total of 603,271 copies and was placed at number 4 on the year end singles chart.

Chart Run
TOTAL: 603,271 [2x Platinum]
 * Week 01: #01 - 123,123
 * Week 02: #04 - 89,899
 * Week 03: #07 - 56,129
 * Week 04: #09 - 50,970
 * Week 05: #11 - 28,739
 * Week 06: #12 - 33,086
 * Week 07: #18 - 15,705
 * Week 08: #15 - 24,003
 * Week 09: #12 - 25,162
 * Week 10: #13 - 21,335
 * Week 11: #16 - 17,027
 * Week 12: #19 - 13,450
 * Week 13: #24 - 11,455
 * Week 14: #26 - 09,998
 * Week 15: #36 - 06,125
 * Week 16: #32 - 08,766
 * Week 17: #22 - 13,565
 * Week 18: #25 - 10,564
 * Week 19: #28 - 09,999
 * Week 20: #30 - 08,692
 * Week 21: #23 - 13,112
 * Week 22: #27 - 07,767
 * Week 23: #38 - 04,599