It has been my privilege to listen to Charly Beth’s latest single titled “The Way You Move’ which is rather catchy. Beth has successfully captured that enchanting feeling when people are going out, everything is perfect and the disco floor is magnetic. Actually, I find its trajectory, the history of this track, fascinating.
Beth said it began as a bedroom experiment before becoming what she now presents as this disco-pop track. Listen closely and you can hear some of Kylie Minogue and Dua Lipa but there is a definite Beth Tweddle twist with some uber funky bass and some pop hooks.
The lyrics are silly, carefree, and even though they come from club culture, they are not necessarily sultry or sexual as one might presume, as it captures random glances of people across the room. It’s not meant to be some overly complicated concept – it’s about the rhythm and freeing yourself.
During the interview, Beth was willing to share how she writes her songs and some of the issues she encounters while in the studio. I was interested in what she said about how she enters the process of writing a song that is supposed to inspire confidence on the dance floor.
That is perhaps why I like the song “The Way You Move” because the song makes people employ their energy in dancing. In today’s world, most of us could go for a bit of that carefree spirit. If you fancy more cheerful disco-poppish, similar to Metronome’s ‘The Time Is Now’ or Marion McParland’s Sleeper, then I think Charly Beth’s ‘The Way You Move’ will be right up your street. This is a song type that can easily find you grooving to it, maybe even in your sitting room if not noticed.
Listen to The Way You Move
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“The Way You Move” has an infectious energy—can you tell us what inspired the creation of this song?
When I wrote ‘The Way You Move’ back in 2022, I was going through a phase before it of writing lots of heartfelt, emotional lyrics, which I absolutely love, but I just felt like a change. I was listening to Dua Lipa and Kylie Minogue’s more funky songs, and I was inspired by just how good they made me feel. I was like ‘I want to create a song like this’, something that just makes people smile. Both Dua Lipa and Kylie Minogue hold such strong funky qualities in their music – a combination of simple lyrics, really cool rising bass lines and songs based almost entirely on groove rather than putting all the emphasis on the lyrics, and that’s what I wanted to create! Dancing is in my opinion one of the easiest ways to make yourself feel good, so it just made sense really to create a song about dancing… to dance to.
How did you approach the writing and production process for this single? Was it different from your previous work?
The writing and recording process was similar to my previous work to be honest. I sat in my little flat in Liverpool with my piano and just wrote. This process was harder though this time than the songs I had written prior! I had just graduated from LIPA that summer, and because I was so used to writing songs every week there, when summer came, I gave myself a break. ‘The Way You Move’ was one of the first songs I wrote post-LIPA, and it was a struggle, because since there was that break, that pause in creativity, it took some adjusting.
I took it into the rehearsal rooms with my lovely band, who at the time was Tristan Smith, Niamh Mailer, Alan Mueller, Luca Visetti and Corin Murphy. We came up with an arrangement for it. They honestly do not get enough credit. I write the songs yes, however my band (then and now) are honestly what bring them to life, and enhance them, and there is nothing that can compare to that, so they are involved in this process as much as I am!
Production wise, I had a very tiny budget at the time, so we recorded a lot of the songs in my flat in the summer of 2023. I worked with the amazing Jacob Weinreich in Jacob’s cute little home studio to mix and add some extra production, and then I sent it off to be mastered 🙂
What message or emotions do you hope listeners take away from “The Way You Move”?
At the surface of ‘The Way You Move’, it’s not really hard to miss that the song is entirely just about dancing and letting your hair down. However, one thing about me if you have seen me live, is I always like a dance on stage, I like embracing the quirkiness and showing off my personality through bright colours etc.,
So actually at the core of ‘The Way You Move’, it’s about having the confidence to actually be able to dance freely and own that, and remove fear of judgement and what others think from your head. I am actually trying to get lots of people involved in creating a music video for this track, by sending me home videos of them dancing to embrace this. I think it will be really beautiful! So yeah, if you are reading this and want to be involved, drop me a message on instagram – charlybethmusic
The song has a dynamic rhythm—was there any particular influence behind the sound or style of the track?
Kylie Minogue and Due Lipa’s more disco/funky tracks were a huge influence on ‘The Way You Move’. The octave bass lines are a frequent feature in Dua Lipa’s music, so I was inspired by them! Likewise, the funky guitars in songs such as ‘Real Groove’ by Kylie Minogue had a huge influence.
Can you share any behind-the-scenes stories from the recording or production process?
I can! As I mentioned before, this track was a self-recorded track, using bedrooms, band rooms etc. so when it came to recording the drums, which we recorded with Tilly Louise, it was totally DIY. We used one of LIPA’s rehearsal band rooms, and set the drum kit up with lots of microphones around it.
We used a music stand to hold a mic actually because we ran out of stands, and also daisy-chained 3 interfaces together for recording – so yes, very DIY. When it came to recording, we needed the snare drum muted. Tristan, who played drums on this song, whipped out a Heinz Beans can from his bag, and we used this to mute the snare. Quite an unusual process, but it was definitely fun and memorable, and added a lot of character to the song.
The rest of the instruments were recorded in my flat and my flatmates cat was about. He LOVES music so we’d be sat on the couch, recording, plugged into my laptop, and he’d just be sat listening, whilst also having zoomies which was a tad distracting!
In “The Way You Move,” there’s a strong connection between the music and movement—was dance a big influence on this track?
100%. The lyrics are about dance, and I wanted this to correlate with the tempo and feel of the track too. I just thought ‘if I dance to music, what is it about the music that I dance to that draws me in?’, and I realised that most music I enjoy a dance to has an easy groove, sits at around 120bpm, has emphasis on every beat when the energy increases, is an easy listen, and holds ear worm hooks so that I can sing along at the same time. So that is what I tried to achieve 🙂
How did you collaborate with your production team on this single? Were there any creative challenges you had to overcome?
I found Jacob through a friend of mine. I sent over what I had already recorded and produced myself, and Jacob aided in bringing it to life through extra production and mixing. I don’t think there were any challenges. Myself and Jacob had good communication throughout the whole process. We had a reference track for the mix, spoke through ideas and were aligned in what to create. The only difference between the final version with the first draft is that it holds more of a live band feel than it first did.
Your vocals in this track are powerful and expressive. How did you find the right tone and energy to match the music?
Thank you! This is so kind! Simple answer, a lot of takes! Haha no I’m joking! We did a lot of messing around with vocal qualities. For example, we played around with singing the chorus’ normally, and then singing it quieter, putting more emphasis on certain syllables, laughing whilst singing some parts – we basically tried a lot until we found an idea that worked. Jacob was very good at giving me ideas to try! We also took out some lyrics for emphasis on the first chorus for more impact, and double tracked them for power. There are so many layers of different vocal takes and qualities one on top of the other that all blend, it adds a lot of flavour and character, and adds to the overfull fun and quirky vibe the song gives.
Do you have any favorite lyrics from “The Way You Move,” and why do they stand out to you?
The first verse of the song “something in my same old heartbeat beating, hold on to this feeling, am I breathing? Saw you over there, grooving without care, you’ll be the death of me” stands out to me as my favourite lyrics.
They portray this feeling of a regular ‘same old’ heartbeat – it’s routine, it suggests a lack of excitement in a persons life due to the heart rate staying the same. But then they see this person across the room, “grooving without care” and letting go of fear of what others think, and it creates almost this sense of healthy jealousy and admiration “you’ll be the death of me”. That is quite a harsh lyric, but also holds a warmth and a beauty because it conveys this opening up to a positive change, a kind of wanting to let go of worrying about what others think of you and just dance, letting the fear of judgement die away. I challenged myself to keep the lyrics simple, because there is also beauty in simplicity.
What has the fan reaction been like so far? Have there been any surprising responses to the song?
The reaction so far has been great! I was really nervous to release this as it is my favourite release to date, and I was anxious about how it would be received. I have been overwhelmed by the response. So thank you to everyone for adding ‘The Way You Move’ to all your little playlists, liking and sharing the song, and even sending me videos of you dancing. That has been great to watch.
How does “The Way You Move” fit into the overall narrative or direction of your upcoming projects?
I like to create songs that on the surface have a quirky groovy feel and get stuck in your head, but when you peel back the layers, have a lot of depth to them. I think this single really highlights the direction I am heading in as an artist. I love colour (which you can tell from the single artwork). I love groove. I love lyrics that hold depth. This is what ‘The Way You Move’ holds, and something my other songs share.
If you could perform this single anywhere in the world, where would it be and why?
I’d love to perform on Jools Holland! Jools provides a great platform for musicians to be heard by a wider audience, and so many big names have been on that show.
Looking ahead, are there any exciting collaborations or releases on the horizon that you can tell us about?
I’m currently working on getting some more studio time for another track, which is another of my favourites. This one holds the same groove as ‘The Way You Move’ but has a more live band feel, and the lyrics to this one are very personal to me, which is exciting and scary, because I have never released a song yet with lyrics that I can fully relate too! Expect groove, emotion, and storytelling, and get ready to dance 🙂
