They were already making music and persuaded her to get in the studio one day and start singing. At the time, she was actually studying medicine. She had long been listening to artists like Marvin Gaye and Boy George but had no plans to get into the industry. But they kind of talked me into giving it a whirl. I really had nothing to lose. So I did it. It just happened. She liked what she heard and signed them all.
Listening back now, they perfectly fit in with the crossover house sounds that were dominating UK charts. But when Cherry moved back to the States, the garage house sound didn't translate as well so the label tried to steer Ultra towards a more commercial sound.
They wanted us to do pop-dance kind of music. But it wasn't enough, so we made the departure. Turns out, it was the best thing that could have happened. After consulting with her manager, Bill Coleman, Ultra decided she wanted to carry on with music.
Bill and I really sat down and had a lot of conversations about the next move. We decided it was time for me to move on in terms of style of production. It was time for me to be completely independent, as an artist and songwriter, to broaden the types of songs I was writing.
She admits she had no knowledge of their status at the time but soon came to love their sound. It was a perfect move that gave Ultra the freedom to do what she wanted. Going to another major didn't make sense at the time, but neither did going to an independent that didn't have brand recognition, didn't have the infrastructure to build a record quickly and blow it up. And most importantly, you know, paying people like they're supposed to be paid was a really big deal.
All those things played into our decision to sign with Strictly. It quickly proved a perfect partnership, with Ultra's defining mega-hit 'Free' arriving in early At the time, female-fronted house acts were everywhere, but this track stood out. First of all because of her vocal performance — she doesn't just sing the chorus, she rockets it into the stratosphere with infectious passion and burning soul.
And that's the beauty of it, how this music transcends generations and becomes a part of their lives. That's really for me the biggest power in this industry because it's a tough business to be in.
You know, it's a rollercoaster, mentally, emotionally, physically, financially. You have to be able to roll with the punches, take the ups and the downs. But whenever you question what you are doing, and why you are here, having moments like that really reinforces it and speaks to the higher power.
It's not just about yourself, it's about the thing you're putting out there that becomes empowering to other people. It's iconic in and of itself. And so that was what we started with as an idea. I liked that, so we just took that idea and really expanded on it. We didn't target anyone specifically with the lyrics. We just wanted something that would speak to everyone's heart and soul. Because there's something every person wants to be emancipated from in their lives, whether it's out loud or on a personal level, whether it's an addiction, love for someone that's not reciprocating it, or just not feeling appreciated.
Hopefully, the track gives you that momentum, that push, baby bird, to just fly out of the nest, you know? Louie helped it become a club smash, and it was only a matter of months before it became a crossover radio hit and went on to truly global chart success. Speaking of which, things get a little complicated in lower-light situations or environments lit by artificial light.
I found the Pixel 5 was better at edge detection and resolving detail in low light areas, whereas the S21 occasionally throws up smudged and over-smoothed results. You really have to go looking for this though, and I believe it's down to the Galaxy S21 ramping up the ISO and introducing more noise into darker sections of a shot as a consequence.
I suspect this could be some teething problems with the AI processing being applied to low-light areas, something which Samsung could fix with a software update. Poor light doesn't help the portrait mode either. Thanks to social distancing rules in the U.
I had to snap a pic of my friend Claire on her doorstep as the sun went down; this meant there was the challenge of dealing with low light on one side and a porch light on the other. The Pixel 5 copes admirably, delivering more natural skin tones and picking out details in the highlights and the shadows.
And it fails to pick out much detail in her hair especially on the left-hand side. The Galaxy S21 doesn't deliver the sharpest of portrait mode cutouts like the Pixel 5, as Samsung opts for a more gradual blur effect. Switch over to the S21 night mode, and the low-light problems are swept away. In the shot below, the S21 delivers a bright image that's more detailed notably in street lights than the Pixel 5. I prefer the colors the Pixel 5 offers, though.
And the S21 seems to apply a good amount of sharpening to its night shots. Ultra-wide angle shots are expensive on the Galaxy S21, but once you zoom in things come apart. Notably, the new Zoom Lock feature, which uses AI to identify the subject and steady the shot.
This works rather well and you can get shots that are surprisingly clear for such extreme zooms, even if you have rather shaky hands. Using Space Zoom I could get a reasonably clear pic of a small mint tin on my window still from the other side of the room.
On the video front, the Galaxy S21 covers a lot of bases. Like the Galaxy S20 it offers up to 8K capture at 24 fps, which its overkill for most, but it lets you snap high-quality photos while recording very high resolution videos. Other high-end features include p video recording at fps, which makes them super-smooth. Speaking of smooth, the Super Steady mode, which uses AI to compensate for shaky recording, will works on p 60 fps video capture. Another highlight is the new Director's View when you're shooting video.
You can shoot using the front and rear cameras at the same time, as well as view live thumbnails from the multiple cameras. This makes it easier to switch to the best shot for your video. It works rather well and is less of a gimmick than I first thought. The portrait video, which is basically a renaming of live focus video, is also rather slick, delivering footage where the subjects are in focus while the background is blurred.
If you move around a lot you can see the S21 working its algorithms, which results in sometimes over smoothing details on faces. Other camera upgrades include an improved Single Take feature that takes a bunch of stills and photos with a single tap.
All the above taken into account, the Galaxy S21 delivers an upgrade over the Galaxy S Potential for further refinement on the AI and computational photography side by Samsung leaves plenty of scope for the S21s camera to get better over time. Speaking of which, putting the Snapdragon equipped S21 through a series of benchmarks, saw the chip deliver a multi-core score of 3, in Geekbench 5.
But the S21, unsurprisingly, outpaces a lot of other Android phones with the older Snapdragon In practical use, though, the S21 chews through games. Both Call of Duty: Mobile and Asphalt 9 Legends ran smoothly at max settings, with the Hz refresh rate further adding to the smoothness. Throwing the S at Geekbench 5, it got a score of 3, so is on par with the Snapdragon chip, which is gratifying as Exynos chips have previously lagged behind.
Like its predecessor, the Galaxy S21 comes with a 4, mAh battery. Still the adaptive refresh rate and improved chip efficiency should deliver better battery life. Set at the 60hz refresh rate, the Galaxy S21 managed 9 hours and 53 minutes in Tom's Guide battery test, which involves continuous web surfing at nits of screen brightness over 5G.
And it just about outlasts the Galaxy S20 with its 9 hours and 31 minutes, so the new silicon seems to be playing its part. Left in its default "Adaptive" mode, which dynamically adjusts the display's refresh rate, the Galaxy S21 lasted 6 hours and 31 minutes.
That's not amazing, but it's far from bad when you get a vibrant display with a Hz refresh rate. Charging is where things get a little messy. The problem is, you need to make sure you have a charging brick to hand, as Samsung only puts the USB-C cable in the box. Samsung made a big song and dance about this decision being environmentally friendly; of course, it saves Samsung money too. Ultimately, I feel this is the right move, whatever the motivation. One UI 3 featured on the Galaxy S21 and now older Samsung models that have upgraded to Android 11 builds upon this goodwill.
The interface is more elegant, complete with a redesigned Quick Panel and a notifications screen that feels less cluttered. I especially appreciate the redesigned lock screen widgets as well as the ability to place widgets on the screen and adjust their transparency.
One UI 3 still comes with a lot of options to tweak your Galaxy experience, which some will love. But it can get a bit overwhelming at times when you just want to find one particular setting. And my word, do I dislike the main apps drawer of the One UI.
I understand Samsung would like me to use its services, but so many other Android phones default to Google features, such as auto-fill for passwords. Nevertheless, One UI 3 is better that previous version.
As the year goes on, the next big question is: what about the Galaxy S21 FE? Considering the already low starting price of the S21, we're skeptical as to the need for an S21 FE, but Samsung is intent on making a convoluted, messy portfolio. The Galaxy S21 FE isn't confirmed yet and it could be a few more months before it launches. Its purported existence doesn't change our opinion on the Galaxy S21 as we've stated here. You can perpetually wait for the next big thing and we don't expect the Galaxy S21 FE to offer anything better than what you get with the S If you have a more recent phone like the Galaxy S20 or Google Pixel 5 , then you might be better off waiting.
That's because we have several new phones that are available now, or are coming soon. Chief among the former is the iPhone But if you're an Android fan, the Google Pixel 6 is right around the corner.
This late into the year, though, it might be best to wait until the Galaxy S22 early in With Black Friday coming on, however, you might be able to score a Galaxy S21 for cheap.
With Samsung removing as much from this phone as it adds, I was prepared to be let down by the Galaxy S The lack of any hardware upgrades for the cameras was a little disappointing, but then they still produce flagship-grade results and have a huge amount of features and tools to really dig into. By making what I feel was the right choice when it came to removing features, the Galaxy S21 still offers the latest flagship chips, a fantastic display and powerful cameras in a refined smartphone at a competitive price; one that should worry the iPhone
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