Artist: Regard featuring Ella Henderson
Single: No Sleep
DJ Regard has released a new single featuring artist Ella Henderson titled “No Sleep”. The single is available for streaming anywhere you get your music.
You may know Regard from his viral singles “Ride It” and “Secrets” featuring RAYE. You may also know Ella Henderson from season nine of X Factor UK, or from her hit singles, “Ghost” and “Crazy What Love Can Do” (with David Guetta and Becky Hill).
Of the single, Regard says “I started creating the beginnings of what would become No Sleep last summer. I was so consumed by making the track, I didn’t realise that by the end of my session, it was morning. I worked my way through the entire night on this song. Ironically, it went on to become ‘No Sleep’ thanks to Ella’s incredible performance on the track.”
Ella adds “I’m so excited to have collaborated with Regard on No Sleep. It feels so empowering to sing such a defiant lyric over such a feel-good record! I believe many people will relate to this song and I think having more upbeat records with a strong and powerful message is something we all need right now! I’m excited for this one and I can’t wait to perform it live together at some point!”
“No Sleep” is a dance/electronic song that, honestly, sounds pretty similar to most other music in this genre. You could have told me this was a David Guetta song featuring Bebe Rexha and I would have believed it. Now before anyone gets mad at me—I love dance/electronic music! I love most top 40 songs and anything you might hear at a club. I’m just saying if you’re looking for something completely unique, original, or profound—this probably isn’t it. If you’re looking for a fun song you can dance to, “No Sleep” is perfect!
“No Sleep” is a song about thriving after a breakup. With lyrics like, “Thought I’d miss your voice, that you’d kill my joy, but I’m still surviving”, this song needs to go on every single-girl-out-on-the-town playlist! Ella’s voice is so powerful, and she looks amazing in the official lyric video for the song on DJ Regard’s YouTube.
Now maybe I’m wrong, but “No Sleep” seems to be an ode to the song “Insomniac” by 90’s electronic band, Faithless. While “Insomniac” is about a man who can’t sleep, “No Sleep” is about a woman who is refusing to lose any sleep over a man. Many of the lyrics are also parallel. In “No Sleep”, Ella sings, “I’m good, I’m fine/My mind, my body/I shut my eyes/I’m losing no sleep over/Your touch/Your love/I’m losing no sleep over you”. In contrast, Faithless sings “But there’s no release, no peace/I toss and turn without cease/Like a curse, open my eyes, rise like yeast […] I can’t get no sleep”. Furthermore, Ella directly references that she “used to be an insomniac” in the beginning of the song. Additionally, the beats of both songs are very similar.
I couldn’t find anything from Regard or Ella that confirmed or denied that their song was inspired by “Insomniac”. However, if it was, it would have been nice if either artist had acknowledged Faithless’ contribution when releasing “No Sleep”. Especially considering the lead singer, Maxi Jazz, passed away last year.
Overall, I really enjoyed “No Sleep”, and you can check out Regard on TikTok or check out Ella Henderson on her website, Instagram, and Twitter.