Soft Grunge

"Soft Grunge" is a song by Regina Harper, released as the lead single from her second studio album Serenity. The song was sent to radio on December 7th 2013 and was officially released on January 6th 2014. It was Harper's first single release not to receive a physical CD treatment. The pop-punk song was critically praised, despite being considered by some of Harper's fans as more mainstream than her usual work. The single charted at #4 and sold 204,066 copies in it's entire chart run.

Background
"Soft Grunge" was written by Regina in August 2013 during studio sessions with producer Jeff Bhasker. It was the first track that was completed by the pair and was eventually sent to Rick Nowels for additional production. At the same time, Regina also wrote and recorded "Follow the Sun" with Bhasker, a track that would eventually become Serenity's second single. 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'." The release of "Soft Grunge" was announced in early November 2013 with the track put up for pre-order and Regina teasing the track and video weekly before it's premiere in early December.

Composition
"Soft Grunge" is a pop-rock track which takes inspiration from the works of Avril Lavigne and Kelly Clarkson. Regina plays the drums on the track, as she does on a lot of the tracks on Serenity. Initially, the track had a much harder rock sound but was re-worked by Rick Nowels when Regina and Fusion agreed that it was too aggressive in it's original form to be released as a single.

Critical reception
Upon it's premiere, "Soft Grunge" received mixed to positive reviews. The song was instantly praised by Digital Spy, who called it "one of Regina's more interesting single releases" and praised the track's "irresistibly catchy chorus". Popjustice also praised the song highyly, awarding it eight out of nine stars and calling it "the perfect lead single choice". MTV gave the track a mixed review. While they praised the melody and production, they criticized the juvenile lyrics and called them "completely un-Regina". NME also slated the song's lyrics, stating they "sound like they were written by her daughter".

Music video
Regina made her directorial debut for the official "Soft Grunge" music video, which she shot and directed in November 2013. The video premiered on Regina's official VEVO account on December 2nd 2013. The video is mostly a compilation of various different clips of scenes. There are exterior shots with Instagram-style filters shown first and then scenes showing Regina in a room full of pink balloons is shown. The second verse introduces scenes of Regina singing the song against a yellow/green background wearing Ray Ban sunglasses. When the second chorus arrives, new scenes are shown where Regina is outdoors dancing with sparklers and fireworks are going off in the sky behind her. All of these clips continue throughout the rest of the song. The video ends with Regina bursting a balloon with her hands and laughing at the camera before yelling: "Cut!"

Track listing

 * Digital Download
 * 1) "Soft Grunge"


 * Digital EP
 * 1) "Soft Grunge"
 * 2) "Soft Grunge" (Instrumental)
 * 3) "Soft Grunge" (The Alias Radio Mix)
 * 4) "Soft Grunge" (Groove Police Radio Mix)


 * 12" Vinyl
 * 1) "Soft Grunge"
 * 2) "Soft Grunge" (Instrumental)