Lavande

"Lavande" (English: "Lavender") is a song by French-British alternative pop singer Beastette. Written and produced by Beastette and also co-produced by her sister, Stephanie Kesh, the song was released as single in the UK on 3 October 2011, the same day that its parent EP, the French language Français, was released as well. It is the first and only UK single and second and final overall to be released from the EP.

Inspired by Beastette's favorite flower and color, the song is a love song where the protagonist becomes interested in her potential lover at "love (or lust) at first sight". The protagonist remembers every little detail about her first encounter with her potential mate - including the fact that he was wearing a lavender silk shirt, hence the title. The original version of the song is sung in French but an English version titled "Lavender" was also released as well. The song itself incorporates elements of pop and R&B and has slight dubstep influences as well. For the US single version, the song, in English, features American urban pop singer Taylor. In France, the French version with Antoine Barielles, brother of Jean-Luc Bareilles of Dresden & Bareilles fame, was released alongside the original French solo version as well.

The song managed to receive positive reviews and was commercially successful upon its release. It reached the top five in the UK and would eventually become Beastette's first Platinum single; it would also be the first Platinum single for her management. The single also became Beastette's second number one single in France and also went Platinum there. The single also charted within the top ten in Belgium, Canada, and Ireland while it also charted in the top twenty in Denmark, Switzerland, and the United States.

Background, composition, and writing
"Lavande" was written soley by Beastette and produced by her and her sister, Stephanie Kesh. It was written by Beastette in the summer of 2011 while she was on holiday in France visting family with her sister. She and her sister, one day while in France, were walking in a field of lavender on a sunny day. Beastette got the idea to write the song when she and her sister laid down in the field and began looking up at the sky. According to her, the "beauty of the day reminded me of the beauty of someone who find instantly attractive". Before recording the song in French, Beastette, who does not speak fluent French, wrote the lyrics in English and had them translated into French by her sister and a friend of her sister. Beastette, as with all the other songs on her Francais EP, had to sing the song in French phonetically. An English version of the song was also recorded as well.

Lyrically, the song is about the protagonist becoming infatuated with someone who could be her potential love after seeing them for the first time via "love (or lust) at first sight". In the first verse, the protagonist is minding her business when she sees the potential lover and expresses instant attraction to the person. She also starts to imagine her future with her prospective mate of sorts. By the second verse, her potential lover turns into her actual lover, whom she appreciates for loving her for her and for being supportive and caring of her. The song gets its namesake from the chorus, which describes every little detail she remembers from her very first chance encounter with her lover - including the fact that the person was wearing a lavender silk shirt.

The song has elements of pop and R&B and also incorporates dubstep influences in terms of the song's beat and structure. During the verses, Beastette sings her lyrics quickly and rhythmically before she slows down on the pre-chorus and chorus. Auto-tune is used for "melodic reasons" on the chorus and the middle 8 where the lyric "la-ven-der-er-er...er" are sung.

Release
To date, "Lavande" is Beastette's most widely released single. Four versions of the song were released in different markets: the original French version, the English, the duet French version which featured Antoine Bareilles, the big brother of Jean-Luc Bareilles of Dresden & Bareilles fame, and the duet English version which featured American urban pop singer Taylor.

The French version was released in the UK on 3 October 2011 on CD single, digital download, and vinyl, with the different formats featuring different remixes and the seperate duet versions with Taylor and Bareilles as b-sides. One of the UK CD single formats also featured a bilingual version with Taylor singing his parts in English and Beastette singing her parts in French. The original French version was subsequently released in Belgium and Switzerland on digital download. The original English version was released on digital download on 3 October 2011 in Ireland and Denmark. The French duet version with Bareilles on guest vocals was released as the official version in France on CD single and digital download, while the English duet version with Taylor was released in the United States on digital download.

Promotion
Beastette promoted "Lavande" alongside with her Francais EP. Though her promotional duties were better for this single than they were for her other ones (arguably except "Priorities"), promotion was deemed by Beastette herself as "subpar". Beastette blamed a major shift within the music industry for the subpar promotion, in which said it "disrupted" her from promoting the single properly.

Critical response
The song managed to recieve generally positive reviews with many people complimenting the song's structure and lyrical content. Beastette's vocal performance was also lauded as well. In the UK, the song was praised for its French lyrics and Beastette and her label was complimented for releasing the French version as a single, instead of typically releasing the English verison of a foreign language song in the UK.

Commercial performance
"Lavande" debuted and peaked at #5 on the UK Singles Chart, continuing Beastette's top five streak in the UK. It was her third top five hit as a solo artist. Despite lukewarm promotion for the single by Beastette, "Lavande" has remained a constant seller in the UK. On Christmas Week 2011, the single was certified Platinum, becoming Beastette's (and her manager's) first Platinum single. The single has sold over 280,000 copies in the UK.

"Lavande" reached #1 in France, becoming her second chart topper there. The single has been certified Platinum there. The single has also reached the top ten in Belgium (on both charts), Canada, Ireland, and the United States, while reaching the top twenty in Denmark and Switzerland. The single is, to date, her "widest" charting single to date.

Remixes
For one of the b-sides for "Lavande", Beastette recorded a remix with Sexy Star and Blonde Ambition called the "Sexy Blonde Lavander Remix". The remix was in English, had new lyrics in its chorus, included an original verse from Sexy Star, featured Blonde singing the chorus, and was primarily dance-oriented with a hint of urban influences in it. The remix was very well received.