The unfinished business comes to the forefront of her mind, and “I Thought I Saw You Last Night” fuses together a bitten tongue distaste of someone moving on from you while also paying homage to the more downcast balladry of the likes of ABBA. “I thought I saw you last night / Outside a dive bar / They were playing that Billy Joel song you like,” she spouts in the chorus. Over sprightly keys, a bustling and bobbing rhythm section, and glimmers of what sound like sequins catching the light on a dancefloor, Bleach captures the triggering effect of associative detail of a past partner. On “I Thought I Saw You Last Night”, Bleach’s voice is that bit grittier and wearier of the world’s bullshit than she has captured before.
There are parts of people that stay with you years after the relationship has finished, like hearing their favourite song play in a bar.” I found out someone I was once involved with had a new girlfriend and kept fantasising about crashing their future wedding. “‘ I Thought I Saw You Last Night’ is about watching a former lover move on when they’re still at the forefront of your mind.
It’s been five months since Ellie Bleach released her last single (the inspired baroque pop hit “He Bought Me Nikes”), and since then it sounds like she’s been put through a wringer of emotions, which brings us to today’s new single.
