I was staying with a friend in New York recently. One night he arrived home, threw his workbag to the floor, pulled out his laptop, saying, “You have to listen to this. It is the perfect pop song,” proceeded to search YouTube and then started dancing around his apartment with complete and total abandon.
 
This is the only acceptable reaction when you hear the track he played for me, as pop has officially reached new heights with the creation of “Love Stuck,” by Dream Beats, featuring The Face.
 
Anders Hansson (who has worked with Alcazar and BWO), Felix Persson and Märta Grauers (from Le Kid) form the Dream Beats component, with The Face made up of Tamer, Francine and Christie, a London-based band formerly known as Pandering & The Golddiggers.
 
The unrelentingly upbeat disco-infused track itself is co-written by Sharon Vaughan, who co-wrote Agnes’s “Release Me” with Anders, and Wynter Gordon, who has worked with Flo Rida, David Guetta, Estelle and the underrated Leighton Meester from Gossip Girl. Seriously, “Somebody to Love,” with Robin Thicke from 2009, was utterly incredible and almost entirely ignored. Don’t deny it, bitches. This all means that what we have on our hands is a collaboration between some of pop’s shining writing lights and a band poised to pry the pop crown from Jake Shears’ clenched, sweating butt cheeks.
 
“Love Stuck,” unlike most pop songs, manages to cover new territory with its lyrics, describing that awkward moment when you find yourself in a relationship, both hesitating to take the next step and finding yourselves in a sort of love-limbo, hence "love stuck." Some might find the lyric “I don’t want to be the one who wants it more” terrifyingly accurate. Search out the video and you’ll find a wonderfully lo-fi retro affair where the band members slowly strip down to their almost nothingness, perhaps paralleling that feeling of nakedness with the exposure of being in such a situation.
 
I was lucky enough to chat to The Face to learn more about how this pop powerhouse came to be and what we can expect in the future.
 
Q. Tell us how you came together.
Christie: We met in an alleyway in Soho and the rest is history.
Francine: That’s actually true.
 
Q. Why the name change? Did it change your artistic direction or . . .
F: At heart we will always be the same band, with the same passions. We felt we introduced ourselves in a really strong way and it was time for the next chapter.
C: We’ve grown and we wanted to change our musical direction slightly, so we thought we might as well go the whole way.
 
How did the collaboration with Dream Beats come about? What was the process like?
Tamer: Our management showed Anders, Felix and Märta our picture, and just from that, they wanted to work with us.
F: I guess we're quite impactful, image-wise, and they were curious to meet us.
C: They always love something adventurous.
 
Q. Any chance you'll work with them again?
T: Indeed.
F: Totally, they are so talented and also fun to be around, as well.
 
Q. Have you felt an impact from "Love Stuck"’s success?
F: We’re thrilled it’s connecting the way it is, and we can’t wait for it to reach a wider audience.
 
Q. When will "Love Stuck" be available in Canada?
C: Hopefully soon. It would be amazing if it's available everywhere. No really, everywhere!
 
Q. Did you enjoy making the video? Was it odd to be naked with each other?
C: More so with the crew, but with the three of us it's basically a normal day.
F: That's actually true.
T: I like being naked.
 
Q. It’s clear you love to dress up. What's your favourite costume to date?
T: It's always the next one for me.
F: I particularly like the one that could be termed as a dark Fifth Element look, where Christie and I are in bandages and Tamer is wearing braces. It was designed by us, and Tamer hand-stitched the whole thing.
C: Mmmm, that's a tricky one -- there have been so many!
 
Q. The obligatory question about influences -- who are they?
T: So many disco legends and rock gods.
C: Too many to mention.
F: Attempting to mention some -- MJ, Prince, Grace Jones, Minnie Riperton, ABBA -- ABBA are so heavily rotated that they can sometimes be taken for granted, but their lyrics, melodies and harmonies are genius.
 
Q. Any more collaborations coming up to look forward to? How about a recreation of Dr Teeth and The Electric Mayhem in collaboration with the Scissor Sisters. Which character would you pick? (I vote Tamer as Janice.)
T: Funny you say that. There was always a slight element of New York Dolls about Janice that I just love.
C: Wow, I think you should choose our characters!
F: A collaboration with the Scissor Sisters would be amazeballs. We would so have a kiki.
 
Q. When will we hear new music? Is there an album planned?
F: There is, and we're in the process of recording it. We've written and recorded about three albums' worth of songs already, but we're always eager to experiment with our sound and themes, so there's more work to be done before the final product.
 
Q. Any tour dates planned or appearances?
C: We are always adding dates, and are performing at Stockholm Pride in August, which should be fun.
F: We have some other European appearances booked in over summer, as well. Exciting times.
 
Q. What do we have to do to get you to Canada?
F: Not much. I've been eager to go for ages. I have friends that have lived there, and I've heard nothing but great things.
C: Spread The Face love around!
 
Q. Any message for your Canadian fans?
T: You are just sublime. We can't wait to come and see you. Keep showing your support and we will soon enough be able to.
F: Once we see that maple flag we'll never want to leave! Get it? ''Leave"?! Haha.
 
Pop fans: see if you can play the song just once, as it’s impossible to resist its charms. Welcome to your new song of the summer 2012.
 
And maybe 2013, too.
 
Follow the band @thefacetheband on Twitter.