After years of being a collaborator - first as a member of the band Luna, and then as one half of the husband-and-wife duo Dean & Britta - Britta Phillips kicked of her solo career with the release of her debut album (2016) last year. The album featured an equal balance of original songs and strategically-chosen covers of memorable songs by the Cars, Evie Sands, Fleetwood Mac, Dennis Wilson and ABBA's Agnetha Fältskog. Last month, she released the music video for "Million Dollar Doll" (which she described as "Blade Runner meets noir"), one of the original songs on the album.
Directed by Alec Coiro, the video juxtaposes the song's theme of obsessive, 'stalker-ish' desire with a futuristic setting: "'Million Dollar Doll' weaves a very compelling story. For the video, we wanted to stay true to the song's narrative, but not retell it too literally. We stuck with the song's theme of following and being followed, and added to that ... being under the constant gaze of digital surveillance. We also added an expression of the impulse to resist that gaze" (Christopher Roberts, Under the Radar).
Phillips brilliantly marries her vintage inspirations with contemporary sounds on this track (which she claimed to have "made up as she went along"). "Million Dollar Doll" combines a sultry New Wave vibe with pulsing synthpop urgency, making for a catchy and compelling song. Her understated vocals keep up with the track's brisk pace, mirroring how she holds her love interest in a steady, unrelenting and self-reflexive gaze: 'I'm right beside you now/ But we don't hold hands/ I look at you straight/ But you don't catch my glance ... I've been with you all the way/ I'm along for the long ride/ But I'm not walking away/ I'm along for the long ride...'.
