90s nostalgia is hot right now, and as someone who lived through the 1990s, that’s not always a good thing. There was a lot that was really bad that we’re just kind of glossing over! There was so much misogyny and slut shaming and fat shaming and just general shame. Gay bashing was more widespread, and HIV/AIDS drugs weren’t widespread. As far as pop culture went, subcultures simply didn’t crossover, which was dumb. I am so glad that the older, haggard me of today has eschewed the notion of guilty pleasures and can simply enjoy the techno delights of Kaleen’s We Will Rave in the way that my 1990s riot grrl self never would have been able to.
Because We Will Rave is nothing but a delight. It’s not deep. It’s not trying to convey a message. It’s simply saying, “Sometimes, it’s really nice to forget one’s cares by dancing them away.” And if that message seems familiar, it’s because Benjamin Ingrosso said exactly the same thing in Eurovision 2018 – a Eurovision where Kaleen was coincidentally working as a stand-in for many of the acts.
So if Kaleen’s message is sensible, but not revolutionary, what is she bringing to the table that Benjamin Ingrosso did not*? Well, as the title might suggest, the rave. Kaleen has unearthed several of the dance beats that would have been used in the hottest 90s dance tracks at some of Germany’s best techno clubs and put them in this song. (Not that she’d know; Kaleen was about five years old when many of those songs were released, and she was not only too young to be clubbing, but too busy on the competitive dance circuit.)
And the other thing that Kaleen brings that Mr. Ingrosso did not is the sense of the actual club. Look at her video for We Will Rave, in which Kaleen strides into the abandoned warehouse where Calvin Klein store all their male models when they aren’t appearing in ads. The models are doing various model things (playing with tires, playing with hammers, playing with ladders) when she steps in, but they instantly recognize a woman in need. She is heartbroken; she needs reassurance; they will provide. If making her feel better requires them to rub up on her atop hood of a vintage car, or in the suspiciously wet environs of a lighting showroom, these models will do it! By the end of the video, Kaleen has ruined multiple bodysuits but regained her spirit, all through the power of dance music and bare chests.
On a more serious note, I had the chance to interview Kaleen at Eurovision in Concert for an upcoming podcast with ESC Insight, and I asked her (as someone who loves dance music but hates the sensory experience of actually being in a club) to sell us on the concept of raving, and she said:
For me, it’s getting lost in a moment because you enjoy life, whether that’s in your bedroom at home, whether that’s with your family at a brunch, whether that’s with a community at a club, whether it’s in a Eurovision audience somewhere. I feel like we have to rave and to party and to be positive a lot more. And therefore, I feel like everyone should at least rave once!
Kaleen gets what draws so much of us to Eurovision – that sense of community. She knows because she’s part of it, having been working as a stand-in and a creative director for various acts at Eurovision and Junior Eurovision. This year marks her time as an actual act, but I hope that she’ll continue to be involved in the broader organisation, following a career trajectory not unlike that of Christer Bjorkman. Although at this point, I’m prepared to go one step further and call for Kaleen to be the next head of the EBU. From Ola Sand to Osterdahl to We Will Rave, right?
*There are no digs against Benjamin Ingrosso intended on this blog. We love him and if any offense has been taken we offer to take him out for one (1) meal at the Italian restaurant of his choice, complete with apertif and antipasti all the way through to afterdinner affogato. We will both be in Malmo come May. I will be attending Eurovision. Benjamin will be performing his excellent new 1970s-inspired power pop songs at the first semifinal, so really, there’s no excuse not to meet up.
dudepoints.fun 