Against The Wall

"Against The Wall" is a song written and produced by URAPS Idol 12 finalist Iris. The track was released as her debut single on 19 September, 2011 and charted at #6 on the URAPS singles charts, spending three weeks in the top 10.

Background
After recieving a suprise elimination from URAPS Idol 12, Iris suffered a mental break down, leading to her being sectioned. It was during this time Iris had a lot of time to think about things and create music. "Against The Wall" was one of the very first tracks she wrote. It was originally due for release on 17 October, however on 25 August, Iris decided to move the release a month earlier, to September 19. The single premiered on Radio 1 on Friday 02 September 2011.

Release and reception
Robert Copsey of Digital Spy described "Against The Wall" as "a pitch-black disco-pop number with a grinding synthesised beat that treads the line between urban and euro-friendly without sounding gimmicky." Matthew Wilkening of the AOL Radio Blog gave the song a positive review, stating, "The song is filled with angry hard pounding beats, yet still contains a soft undertone, showing some vulnrability. Iris is one to watch for a successful future." Bradley Stern of MuuMuse called the song "a delicious, dark moment of sexy electro-pop for the up-and-coming artist."

Music video
A sign is shown stating “welcome to the asylum”. Inside nothing but the haunting sound of violins can be heard. Dead members of staff are shown on the floor as the psycho's run wild. Amongst the insane is Iris, shown to be the queen of the psychopaths and now ruling asylum. The music eventually begins and only Iris's lips are shown singing the song, although the camera does shake around and show her face occasionally. Iris patrols the asylum and her followers, she sticks her face into theirs threatingly and sings as she walks through them all. Iris then grabs the camera and drags it through to a new room with her where she does a dance routine with fellow psychos. Iris is then shown to be sat at a judging table with her followers, while a woman stands infront of them. It's shown that this is how the asylum runs trials, by rating the suspect on their ability to dance. The woman break dances in front of them all while Iris looks on unimpressed. Iris then once again grabs the camera and twists it away from the scene as the other woman lunge onto the woman who was dancing. Iris pulls some strange faces and positions. The woman is then shown to be injured and Iris continues the attack. The camera shakes violently and returns showing Iris with her clothes all ripped. Iris then dances infront of the camera with torn clothes, doing a somewhat celebration dance as it is implied the dancing woman has been killed. Iris continues to sing as she pulls various weird faces. She is also shown in a cornrer of the asylum dancing crazily to the music. Iris then heads into the central area of the asylum and dances with her fellow psychos, celebrating another victorious day for their leader. The final scene shows Iris in blackness with a spotlight on her (and two psychos behind) as she leans towards the camera and pulls an angry face. The video abrubtly ends.

Tracklisting

 * CD1
 * 1) "Against The Wall"
 * 2) "Untouched" (URAPS Idol 12 Audition)
 * 3) "Shiver" (URAPS Idol 12 Week 2 performance)


 * CD2
 * 1) "Against The Wall"
 * 2) "Aphrodite Under Fire" (URAPS Idol 12 Audition)
 * 3) "Survive" (URAPS Idol 12 Week 2 performance)

Charts
"Against The Wall" debuted at #6 on the singles chart behind new entries from INTOXICATED, Syd Wolfe and L'mondrea but ahead of other new entries from Ashley!, Monaco, Aftershock and Kaylee Walker. The following week it dropped 2 places to #8 and remained in the top 10 for a third week, falling to #10 the next week.

A week before it's release, the single debuted on the download chart at #5, however it dropped to #6 the following week. It was the 97th most played song in the UK in 2011.

Chart Run
TOTAL: 210,561
 * Week 1: #6 - 47,184
 * Week 2: #8 - 43,916
 * Week 3: #10 - 37,243
 * Week 4: #16 - 16,984
 * Week 5: #19 - 17,718
 * Week 6: #19 - 16,836
 * Week 7: #20 - 17,450
 * Week 8: #22 - 13,230