Melanie Wehbe’s latest collaboration with Paul Rey– as well as her first duet– “Arrows” is a beautifully somber dedication to making the leap of faith to fall in love once more, in spite of the pain you’ve faced before from losing someone. It’s a hard thing to learn to love again, but even harder making that first step to risk your heart again; “Arrows” knows this well, and its writing represents that feeling like nothing else. In this debut duet, Wehbe and Rey both do a fantastic job of balancing those emotions of fear and excitement, of awe and caution. With tentative instrumentals and passionate vocals, you’ll be comforted that taking that chance to love again is better than any risk of being hurt.
“Arrows” begins as a vow to never fall in love again. Through rhythmic percussion, Wehbe and Rey’s respective verses speak of body-ridden battlefields of past lovers, keeping your head down, and maintaining that armor around your heart, lest Cupid shoots his arrow through you again. Each artist sings a verse and a chorus, but eventually come together to let their voices mingle in the final verse and chorus. It’s such a beautiful and subtle way to illustrate the song’s message; while I adore the songwriting and its metaphors and imagery, something truly amazing happens when Wehbe and Rey sing together. “Arrows” is also an instrumentally sparse song, except for when the duet begins in earnest. Percussion and swelling strings, passion oozes from the song’s final verse and chorus to cap off an artistically masterful representation of opening one’s heart to love once more. I love how the song acknowledges the hurt that can come from love, “lovers get bruised/I call a truce”, but still knows that it’s always worth it in the end. By the song’s end, a white flag is waved, and you’ll learn to fall in love again.
Swedish singer-songwriter Melanie Wehbe began her musical journey at the age of fourteen when she began to write songs to express herself. She spent several years as a backing vocalist in Melodifestivalen, and has also written two entries for the Eurovision Song Contest: “Move” by The Mamas and “Love Is Forever” by Leonora. Additionally, she has also written two Swedish Idol winner songs. 2016 was the year of her debut single, “Wasted”. Her first EP, “Bloom”, dropped in 2022 and represents the journey of finding self-acceptance and inner-strength to bloom as a person. Likewise, Paul Rey is similarly talented and successful; hailing from Sweden, Rey has worked with industry legends such as Snoop Dogg and Fifth Harmony. He debuted in 2020 in Melodifestivalen with the song “Talking In My Sleep”, and has reached the finals in both his 2021 and 2023 performances. “Arrows” is both Melanie Wehbe and Paul Rey’s most recent release; if you enjoyed their excellent synergy, then I recommend delving deeper into both of their discographies to discover even more from their amazing musical styles.
Written By Alexa Leung
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