"Risk It All" is a standalone single by English singer-songwriter

Ella Henderson Gabriella Michelle Henderson (born 12 January 1996) is a British singer and songwriter. She competed in the ninth series of '' The X Factor UK'' in 2012, being the eighth contestant eliminated despite being a strong favourite to win. She sign ...

, the House Gospel Choir and producer

Just Kiddin Just Kiddin are a British electronic music production duo composed of Lewis Thompson and Laurie Revell. The duo is from Kettering, Northamptonshire, England, and formed in 2010. Just Kiddin have remixed the likes of Usher, Parachute Youth, an ...

. It was released on 20 August 2021 through Major Tom's /

Asylum Records Asylum Records is an American record label, founded in 1971 by David Geffen and partner Elliot Roberts. It was taken over by Warner Communications (now the Warner Music Group) in 1972, and later merged with Elektra Records to become Elektra/As ...

and

Warner Music Group Warner Music Group Corp., commonly abbreviated as WMG, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational entertainment and record label Conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the "Record label#M ...

. Described by

critics A critic is a person who communicates an assessment and an opinion of various forms of creative works such as art, literature, music, cinema, theater, fashion, architecture, and food. Critics may also take as their subject social or governme ...

as an uplifting euphoric

dance Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

and

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...

song, it features lyrics that speak of facing your fears in life and love, and giving a relationship a second chance. The song was promoted with live performances on

BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the List of most-listened-to radio programs, most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 14 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the sta ...

's ''

Breakfast Show Breakfast television (Europe and Australia) or morning show (Canada and the United States) is a type of news or infotainment television programme that broadcasts live in the morning (typically scheduled between 5:00 and 10:00a.m., or if it i ...

'' with

Zoe Ball Zoe Louise Ball (born 23 November 1970) is a British broadcaster and presenter. She was the first female host of the Radio 1 and Radio 2 breakfast shows for the BBC, and in 2024 was confirmed as the second-highest paid BBC presenter after G ...

and the homecoming ceremony for

Team GB Team GB is the brand name used since 1999 by the British Olympic Association (BOA) for their British Olympic team. The brand was developed after the nation's poor performance in the 1996 Summer Olympics, and is now a trademark of the BOA. ...

Paralympics The Paralympic Games or Paralympics is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of disabilities. There are Winter and Summer Paralympic Games, which since the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Kore ...

Team Homecoming. Upon its release, "Risk It All" debuted and peaked at 100 on the UK Singles Chart.

Background and composition

In 2015, a year after topping the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...

with her debut album ''

Chapter One Chapter One usually refers to a first chapter in a book. Chapter One, Chapter 1 or Chapter I may also refer to: Albums * ''Chapter One'' (Collage album) (1994) * ''Chapter One'' (Ella Henderson album) (2014) * ''Chapter One'' (John Sykes album ...

'', Ella Henderson began working on her second album. Despite completing album number two, Henderson suffered from severe

anxiety Anxiety is an emotion characterised by an unpleasant state of inner wikt:turmoil, turmoil and includes feelings of dread over Anticipation, anticipated events. Anxiety is different from fear in that fear is defined as the emotional response ...

which ultimately led to delays and her departure from

Syco Music Syco Music, originally S Records, was a division of Syco Entertainment which operated from 2002 until 2020. The label was founded by British entrepreneur, record executive and media personality Simon Cowell, who was formerly employed at Bertels ...

, for a new deal with

Rudimental Rudimental are a British drum and bass band, signed to Asylum Records, Atlantic Records and Black Butter Records. The band consists of Piers Aggett, Kesi Dryden and Leon "Locksmith" Rolle. They were nominated for a Mercury Prize in 2013, and ...

's label Major Tom's and

. It was Rudimental that introduced Henderson to the London-based vocal group House Gospel Choir. Speaking about how "Risk It All" came about, Henderson said "When the Rudimental boys introduced me to House Gospel Choir, I knew I had to work with them. It was such an amazing experience collaborating with them and Just Kiddin on this song. I hope it uplifts you as much as it did us in the studio." "Risk It All" is a

dance music Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole piece or part of a larger musical arrangement. In terms of performance, the major categories are live dance music and recorded dance musi ...

and

song with a "vibrant production" that invokes "

euphoria Euphoria ( ) is the experience (or affect) of pleasure or excitement and intense feelings of well-being and happiness. Certain natural rewards and social activities, such as aerobic exercise, laughter, listening to or making music and da ...

" and lyrics that speak of giving a relationship a second chance. Henderson spoke about the song on her social media accounts, saying "it's alllllll about taking risks and not being afraid to face your fears in love and in life" .

Reception

Upon release, "Risk It All" received support from

music streaming A music streaming service is a type of online streaming media service that focuses primarily on music, and sometimes other forms of digital audio content such as podcasts. These services are usually subscription-based services allowing users to s ...

platforms and radio stations in the UK. It was playlisted by

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...

and

, as well as being picked as one "Hottest Record In The World Right Now" on

Charlie Hedges Charlie Hedges (born 18 July 1986) is a British disc jockey who presents as part of ''Rickie, Melvin and Charlie'' on BBC Radio 1 and hosts ''Radio 1's Dance Anthems'' on Radio 1 Dance. Early life Hedges studied journalism at Harlow College. ...

's ''Dance Anthems'' show. Additionally, it was included on

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a List of companies of Sweden, Swedish Music streaming service, audio streaming and media service provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. , it is one of the largest providers of music streaming services ...

's 'New Music Friday' and 'All New All Now' playlists, as well as

Apple Music Apple Music is an audio and video streaming service developed by Apple Inc. Users can select music to stream to their device on-demand, or listen to existing playlists. The service also includes the sister internet radio stations Apple Musi ...

's 'New Music Daily' playlist. "Risk It All" received a positive review from

music critic '' The Oxford Companion to Music'' defines music criticism as "the intellectual activity of formulating judgments on the value and degree of excellence of individual works of music, or whole groups or genres". In this sense, it is a branch of m ...

Jon Stickler, from ''Stereoboard'', who that said that Henderson's vocals combined with the choir's to "lift the vibe".

Promotion

On the day of release, 20 August 2021, Henderson appeared on

's ''

'' on

for a live acoustic performance of the song. The single's cover art was shot by photographer Matt Pearson and was accompanied by other photos, all taken during the music video shoot atop Seven Sisters Cliffs in

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

, England. Henderson would later appear on 12 September with the House Gospel Choir at the

Paralympics Homecoming Ceremony for a performance of "Risk It All", live on

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

Music videos

The

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

for "Risk It All" features Henderson and the House Gospel Choir atop the Seven Sisters cliffs in

, England. The theme of the video is around a "Last Day on Earth", with a couple departing for the cliffs and mark off activities from their bucket list as "an asteroid threatens the Earth". It features scenes of both "pre-Apocalyptic drama" and "young love and a gratitude for being alive", and "touches the

dichotomy A dichotomy () is a partition of a set, partition of a whole (or a set) into two parts (subsets). In other words, this couple of parts must be * jointly exhaustive: everything must belong to one part or the other, and * mutually exclusive: nothi ...

of love and fear". The video made its debut on 27 August 2021, and was directed by Lewis Cater. According to ''Promonews''s Rob Ulitski, the video is "brilliantly realised... with a surprising feel-good factor". A music video performance of the acoustic version of "Risk It All" was released on 10 September 2021. It was recorded at The Pool Studios in

Bermondsey Bermondsey ( ) is a district in southeast London, part of the London Borough of Southwark, England, southeast of Charing Cross. To the west of Bermondsey lies Southwark, to the east Rotherhithe and Deptford, to the south Walworth and Peckham, ...

, London.

Track listing

Digital single #"Risk It All" (Ella Henderson, The House Gospel Choir, Just Kiddin) – 2:58 Acoustic single #"Risk It All" (Ella Henderson & The House Gospel Choir) – 3:18 #"Risk It All" (Ella Henderson, The House Gospel Choir, Just Kiddin) – 2:58 Just Kidding VIP mix single #"Risk It All" (Just Kidding VIP mix) – 4:27 #"Risk It All" (Club Mix) – 3:24 #"Risk It All" (Ella Henderson, The House Gospel Choir, Just Kiddin) – 2:58 KC Lights remix single #"Risk It All" (

KC Lights KC Lights (real name Kerr Slaven born 23 November 1991) is a Scottish DJ, record producer and songwriter. History Slaven grew up on the Isle of Bute and attended secondary school in Rothesay. According to Slaven, he initially listened to a mixtu ...

remix) – 3:21 #"Risk It All" (Ella Henderson, The House Gospel Choir, Just Kiddin) – 2:58

Personnel and credits

Recording locations *The Pool (London, UK) Personnel *Ella Henderson – vocals *House Gospel Choir – vocals *Henri Davies – vocal recording engineer *Sarah Dorgan – assistant engineer (acoustic version) *David Emery – mixing and mastering engineer (acoustic version) *Kevin Grainger – mixing engineer, mastering engineer *Charlotte Haining – background vocals *Billy Halliday – engineer (acoustic version) *Lizzie Jennings – choir arranger *Ben Loveland – assistant engineer *Natalie Maddix – choir director *Robert Sellens – engineer *Lewis Thomson (

) – producer, background vocals

Charts

Release history

References

{{Ella Henderson 2021 songs 2021 singles Asylum Records singles Ella Henderson songs Songs written by Ella Henderson British dance songs Songs written by Robert Harvey (musician)