"What You Don't Know" is a song by all-female German pop band Monrose. It was written by American songwriter Billy Mann along with Swedish musicians Mattias Lindblom and Anders Wollbeck and recorded for the band's second studio album, Strictly Physical (2007). Production on the track was helmed by Christian Ballard, Tim Hawes, Pete Kirtley, Obi Mhondera, and Andrew Murray from British production teams Jiant and Snowflake. A guitar-led pop ballad was released as
| "What You Don't Know" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Monrose | ||||
| from the album Strictly Physical | ||||
| Released | 7 December 2007 | |||
| Studio | Weryton Studios (Munich) | |||
| Length | 3:45 | |||
| Label | Starwatch | |||
| Songwriter(s) | ||||
| Producer(s) |
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| Monrose singles chronology | ||||
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The song earned largely positive reviews from music critics who ranked it among Strictly Physical's standout tracks. "What You Don't Know" was released by Starwatch as the album's third and final single on 7 December 2007. It became the band's fifth consecutive top ten hit, reaching number six on the German Singles Chart, and entered the top 20 in Austria. An accompanying music video, directed by Markus Gerwinat, was filmed in Hamburg and released in November 2007.
Background
edit"What You Don't Know" was written by Swedish songwriters Mattias Lindblom and Anders Wollbeck along with American musician Billy Mann, while production was overseen by frequent Monrose contributors Christian Ballard, Tim Hawes, Pete Kirtley, Obi Mhondera, and Andrew Murray for British production teams Jiant and Snowflake.[1]
Critical reception
edit"What You Don't Know" earned largely positive reviews. Julia Dörfler from laut.de wrote that the song "turns out to be a ballad in which the three stars can shine with their voices. The pure acoustic instrumentation makes the melancholic track stand out from the rest of the album."[2] Kronen Zeitung found that with the song "Monrose show the other side of their hit album Strictly Physical for the first time. The soulful heart-pain ballad lives only through the singing skills of the three girls."[3] Letmeentertainyou.de felt that the ballad suffered from its "cold plastic production."[4]
Music video
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A music video for "What You Don't Know," directed by Markus Gerwinat and produced by Q-Filmproduktion,[5] was shot on 13 November 2007 in Hamburg, Germany, and world premiered on November 23 on German music network VIVA's show Viva Live!.[5] Actress Toula Savvidou plays one of the characters in the visuals.[5]
At the beginning of the video, a woman (Savvidou) leaves her bed while her male partner looks on. She seemingly ignores him. The three women of Monrose are then seen over an intersection standing and singing between shots. Bahar Kizil is seen throughout the video along with her reflection, walking streets, while Senna Gammour is seen in the backseat of a car. Mandy Capristo is shown alone. The woman of the story lives her life while the man follows, and she continues in not noticing him. By the end of the video, it is revealed that he is dead, and was killed in an automobile accident. She loved him then and still. His body fades as he learns the truth, and the video comes to a close.
Track listings
edit| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "What You Don't Know" (album version) |
| 3:45 | |
| 2. | "What You Don't Know" (Candlelight Mix) |
|
| 3:49 |
| 3. | "Say Yes" | 3:54 | ||
| 4. | "What You Don't Know" (instrumental) |
| 3:45 |
Notes
- ^[a] denotes remix producer(s)
Credits and personnel
editCredits adapted from the liner notes of Strictly Physical.[1]
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Charts
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Weekly chartsedit
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Year-end chartsedit
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References
edit- ^ a b Strictly Physical (Media notes). Monrose. Starwatch Music. 2007.
{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link) - ^ "Wie erobert man Teenie-Herzen?". laut.de (in German). Retrieved 4 December 2023.
- ^ "Winterballade – Monrose: "What You Don't Know"". Kronen Zeitung (in German). 27 November 2007. Retrieved 4 December 2023.
- ^ "Monrose: Strictly Physical". letmeentertainyou.de (in German). 21 September 2007. Archived from the original on 12 October 2007. Retrieved 4 December 2023.
- ^ a b c "Monrose – What You Don't Know". crew-united.com (in German). Retrieved 4 December 2023.
- ^ "What You Don't Know". Spotify (in German). Retrieved 1 December 2023.
- ^ "Monrose – What You Don't Know" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved 30 November 2015.
- ^ European Hot 100 Singles
- ^ "Monrose – What You Don't Know" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved 8 November 2015.
- ^ "Monrose – What You Don't Know". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved 8 November 2015.
- ^ "Top 100 Singles-Jahrescharts (2008)". Offiziellecharts.de. Retrieved 22 November 2015.