KERLI’s “ARMY OF LOVE” STORMS #1 ON DANCE/CLUB CHART, AS VIDEO NEARS 1.5 MILLION YOUTUBE VIEWS

FIRST TRACK FROM UPCOMING NEW SECOND ALBUM DUE THIS SUMMER, FOLLOW-UP TO 2008 DEBUT, LOVE IS DEAD, WITH “WALKING ON AIR”

The rabid community of ‘Moon Children’ devoted to Island Records Estonian dance chanteuse Kerli rejoices over her first #1 single in the U.S., as “Army Of Love” takes over the top spot on the Billboard Dance/Club chart in its 11th week out. The track, which went up for sale at iTunes and other digital retailers on April 12th, is the first new music from Kerli’s long-awaited second album due for release this summer, follow-up to her widely praised debut, Love Is Dead (released June 2008).

“Army Of Love,” written and produced by Kerli and Free School (Kelis, Chris Brown, etc), has found an eager audience for her self-styled ‘Bubble Goth’ fusion, introduced to overwhelming acclaim at last month’s SXSW Conference (chronicled by Buzznet). On May 3rd there will be 9 “Army of Love” remixes from Chew Fu, Mixin Marc & Tony Svejda, Sultan & Ned and others. As Kerli revealed to Nylon’s Liza Darwin, the video for “Army Of Love” was shot in her native home Estonia, where Kerli personally created most of the costumes and props (as she has for most of her videos). The clip is nearing 1.5 million views on YouTube: http://www.vevo.com/watch/kerli/army-of-love/USUV71002964

Kerli picked up millions of new fans last year after visionary director Tim Burton chose her to perform “Tea Party” on the iTunes #1 soundtrack album Almost Alice, music by various artists inspired by Disney’s Alice In Wonderland, the record-breaking #1 box office movie smash. (Almost Alice also featured “Strange,” Kerli’s duet with Tokio Hotel.) Burton first became a fan of Kerli’s after watching her perform her breakthrough single “Walking on Air” at the fall 2008 Scream Awards at which he was honored. During the performance, Kerli dazzled the crowd with elaborate visual effects and background characters inspired by Burton’s own body of work.

With her exotic looks, her hypnotic and highly creative visual identity, and her ethereal yet powerful vocal style, Kerli steered a course to new world pop with Love Is Dead. In 2010, the album won a prestigious European Border Breakers Award (EBBA) from the EU Commis­sion on the opening night of the EuroSonic Showcase Festival in the Netherlands. The award came as a result of the album’s substantial cross-border success, as measured by radio play and sales across the continent.

Kerli’s edgy musical savvy – drawing comparisons to Bjork and Annie Lennox – grew at least partly from her upbringing in newly independent Estonia. Kerli spent most of her “tough love” childhood seeking to transcend her surroundings by immersing herself in the arts, studying vocals, ballet, acting, and classical piano. By the time she turned 14, she knew what her focus would be. “I was so sure that my life was going to be all about singing,” Kerli says, that “I quit everything else.”

This torrent of aural and visual explosions is unleashed on Kerli’s MySpace website www.myspace.com/kerlimusic, which includes “Tea Party” and several songs from Love Is Dead: the Triple-A radio favorite “Walking On Air,” “Love Is Dead,” “Beautiful Day,” and “The Creationist.” The website – also featuring her cover of the American standard “Nature Boy” which was featured in the season finale spots for Smallville – boasts more than 5.2 million profile views, and more than 11.1 million total plays. Kerli can also be heard on the popular compilation series released in the U.S. and internationally, So You Think You Can Dance, which has featured “Tea Party,” “Walking On Air,” and “Beautiful Day.”

Adding their own homage to Kerli’s unique ‘Bubble Goth’ presence is the growing ranks of Moon Children, who even emulate Kerli’s distinctive, signature moon marks, the row of three dots placed on the face signifying integrity, love and unity. Look for their stunning photo gallery on their website, iamamoonchild.net.

Kerli is a fascinating, magnetic young presence, whose talents as a songwriter are progressing at an extraordinary pace. “I’m trying to create a world around my music,” she says. “And this world needs to be pure, real, honest and beautiful but still a little interesting, dark and definitely mysterious.”