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Your Loving Arms

"Your Loving Arms" is a song by German singer-songwriter Billie Ray Martin, the former lead singer of Electribe 101. It was released by Magnet and Sire in October 1994 as the first single from the singer's debut solo album, Deadline for My Memories (1995). Written by Martin and David Harrow, it received critical acclaim and is known to be one of her most notable singles. It was produced by English electronic dance group the Grid and was originally released on October 31. The track found greater chart success in 1995, when it peaked at number one in Italy and on the US Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs chart, and number six on the UK Singles Chart. There were made two different music videos for the song. The success of "Your Loving Arms" earned Martin the prize for Best New Dance Solo Artist of 1995 at the International Dance Music Awards in Miami, and Mixmag featured it in the magazine's "100 Greatest Dance Singles of All Time" list.

Chart performance

"Your Loving Arms" was a major hit in Europe and remains Ray Martin's most successful song. It peaked at number-one in Italy and was a top 10 hit in Ireland (8), Scotland (6) and the United Kingdom, where it peaked at number six in its second week on the UK Singles Chart, on May 21, 1995. But on the UK Dance Chart, the single reached number two. On the Music & Media Eurochart Hot 100, "Your Loving Arms" peaked at number 21 on June 3, 1995. It received a silver record in the United Kingdom with a sale of 200,000 singles.

Outside Europe, it hit number-one on the US Billboard Dance Club Songs chart, number five in Israel, number nine in Canada and number 85 in Australia in November 1995. Additionally, the single also went to number 46 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number 30 on the US Cash Box Top 100 in 1996.

Critical reception

"Your Loving Arms" received favorable reviews from music critics. AllMusic editor John Bush described it as a "magical" electro-pop track. On the 1994 release, Larry Flick from Billboard declared it "a spirited foray into trancecarpeted hi-NRG territory. Her distinctively creamy voice has seldom sounded so strong and worldly, giving the song's romantic prose a decidedly dark and anxious edge." In 1995, he added it as "an NRGetic dance number that makes excellent use of her milky soprano range. Her torchy style makes an intriguing contrast with the Grid's cool and rigid groove production." He also called it "deliciously dramatic". Dave Sholin from the Gavin Report remarked that "there's something in Billie Ray's voice that is simply magnetic. This one-time member of London's Electribe 101 releases a lot of electricity on her own as proven by one super hot dance track." Ross Jones from The Guardian complimented the singer as the "owner of this era's most haunting voice". He wrote, "At first, this high-octane disco spinner doesn't seem like the best place for her Marlene-meets-Aretha tones, but listen closely and try imagining anyone else caressing it so lovingly, with such unassailable cool." On the re-release, he called it a "glowing piece of dancefloor TNT". Another The Guardian editor, Sam Wollaston, noted the "upbeat handbag house on the blissful dancefloor anthem". Howard Cohen from Knight Ridder said that "an instantly memorable hook, retro-disco beat and warm, inviting vocals make this the most musical dance offering 1995 has offered so far."

In his weekly UK chart commentary, James Masterton commented, "Her first solo hit is more of what she has become known for, a haunting, slinky piece of dance music that is so good as to be utterly uncommercial." Mixmag said, "A wonderful song, beautifully sung. Welcome back, Billie!" Pan-European magazine Music & Media wrote, "Is there such a thing as adult-orientated pop dance? If there isn't yet, then it is debuting right here thanks to a lady who looks like Marianne Faithfull's twin sister with the voice of Carly Simon." James Hamilton from Music Week's RM Dance Update deemed it "mournful" and "husky". Dele Fadele from NME felt that the former Electribe 101 diva reappears "world-weary and tinged with regret, yet somehow inexplicably optimistic." He added that Martin "still has that soulful voice that envelops any speaker system in warmth and is still given to displays of honest emotion in an age of irony. The stuttering sequencers and sub bass somehow manage to add other layers of catchiness to this — almost — Hi-NRG track and you just want to hear more of that old moody stuff." Barry Walters from Spin stated that it "was the pop song with underground credibility, one that everyone could agree had something special. Martin's lyrics speak of profound joy and pain, the melody soars through consciousness like a caress, and the vocal sets itself apart from the wailing of generic gut-busting divas."

Music video

There were made two different music videos to promote the single. The UK version is in black-and-white and features Ray Martin performing the song in a bedroom, sometimes lying on the bed or sitting in a chair. Other scenes features the singer walking in a garden or dancing with a man in a hallway. The second version is made in colours. The UK version was later made available on YouTube in 2014.

Impact and legacy

NME ranked "Your Loving Arms" number 17 in their list of the Top 20 of 1995 in December 1995, stating that "with Top Ten-tastic soul tunes like this stuffed in her handbag, one thing's for sure: she'll never be alone on the dancefloor."

Electronic and clubbing magazine Mixmag ranked it number 47 in its list of the "100 Greatest Dance Singles of All Time" in 1996, writing,

If you went into the ladies bogs in any club last summer while Billie Ray's song was playing you could see and hear all the girls joining in. Not only a top tune, Billie Ray Martin's heartfelt lyric spoke the truth about feeling insecure, needing reassurance and hating yourself for it. And, judging by the bogs, many women could recognise the sentiments Billie Ray sang with her incredible sweeping voice - the antithesis of house music's clichéd screaming divas and all the more real for it.

In 1996, the song received one of ASCAP's Rhythm & Soul Awards, and Martin was awarded the prize for Best New Dance Solo Artist of 1995 at the International Dance Music Awards in Miami.

Idolator ranked it one of "The 50 Best Pop Singles of 1995" in 2015. John Hamilton described it as "fiery" and "a predestined club classic, a pulsating techno torch song in which Martin sasses, vamps, and pleads over ominous rising chords and a frantic tambourine-inflected beat."

Time Out ranked it number 29 in their list of "The 50 Best Gay Songs to Celebrate Pride All Year Long" in 2022, writing,

Most gay dance anthems are packed with drama of both the lyrical and vocal variety. But in 1994, German singer Billie Ray Martin invaded clubland with this icy floor filler that’s so calm she almost seems detached. Don’t let that near-monotone fool you, though— Martin is a formidable vocalist, and when she finally cuts loose ‘Burning inside, burning inside, yeah!’), it’s a master class in the art of delayed gratification.