How a ’90s Hit Went K-Pop: LISA’s ‘Moonlit Floor’ Meets ‘Kiss Me’ by Sixpence None the Richer
A modern K-pop star meets quintessential ’90s pop on “Moonlit Floor,” the latest solo single from LISA of BLACKPINK. A green-eyed, French lover’s kiss has LISA swooning, but it’s not just young romance longtime pop fans will feel nostalgia for when they hear the track, released on Oct. 3.
The Thai singer-rapper’s flirtatious, airy pop performance of “Moonlit Floor” pays homage to “Kiss Me,” a 1998 pop-rock earworm from the band Sixpence None the Richer. The sincerity of “Kiss Me,” released as a single 26 years ago, holds steady in 2024.
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Written by singer-songwriter Jessie Reyez and produced by Ryan “Rykeyz” Williamson, LISA’s new record interpolates the chorus of “Kiss Me,” which was originally penned by Sixpence’s Matt Slocum. (Slocum is joined by longtime bandmate Leigh Nash in Sixpence None the Richer, with Justin Cary and Dale Baker rounding out the group’s 1998 and current formation.)
What is interpolation?
The song “Moonlit Floor” is a new sound recording that, in part, works in the notes and melody of another sound recording.
LISA charmingly sings Reyez’ reimagining of the “Kiss Me” hook — where “Kiss me under the Paris twilight/ Kiss me out on the moonlit floor” takes the place of Slocum’s original line, “Kiss me beneath the milky twilight/ Lead me out on the moonlit floor” — to the melody heard on Sixpence None the Richer’s original recording. That’s interpolation.
Another example in K-pop universe of interpolation, though it’s a less prominent feature in the song, is found on BLACKPINK’s “Pink Venom” (2022), with LISA’s “one by one, then two by two” line referencing the Rihanna track “Pon de Replay” (2005).
Interpolating is different from sampling. To sample is to lift an existing sound recording and place that into another sound recording, which isn’t what’s happening here.
“Moonlit Floor” song credits revealed
LISA is listed as performer on the song, which got released through Lloud Co./RCA Records.
Jessie Reyez is credited as songwriter, as well as Ryan Williamson (aka Rykeyz) and Matt Slocum, the Sixpence None the Richer member who wrote “Kiss Me.”
Rykeyz is named as producer.
What does Sixpence None the Richer think of “Moonlit Floor”?
“It is truly humbling to see our song reaching an entirely new generation,” Leigh Nash, Sixpence None the Richer’s lead vocalist, tells Billboard.
“LISA did a great job with this version,” she said, complimenting the fresh take on the “Kiss Me” concept. “As we head out on tour this fall we’re excited to meet some of this new generation of ‘Kiss Me’ fans.”
A brief history of “Kiss Me” and its cultural impact
Sixpence None the Richer, who are about to embark on a tour in support of their new EP Rosemary Hill (out today, Oct. 4, on streaming and available on CD and vinyl), saw their biggest chart success to date with “Kiss Me.”
The dreamy plea to lock lips “and make the fireflies dance, silver moon sparkling” first appeared on the band’s self-titled album that arrived in 1997, the year LISA was born. “Kiss Me” almost claimed the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1998, ascending all the way to No. 2 at its peak and lingering for a total of 33 weeks on the U.S. chart.
The song got an award nomination at the 2000 Grammys, in the best pop performance by a duo or group with vocals category. (That award ended up going to Santana’s “Maria Maria.”)
It’s also straight out of a classic American teen rom-com from 1999, featured in a key scene in the box office hit She’s All That, which was actually retitled Kiss Me for its European release. Rachael Leigh Cook stars opposite Freddie Prinze Jr. in the high school flick.
Another fun fact: Taylor Swift says “Kiss Me” is the first song she learned to play on guitar. She’s mentioned this more than once, but her “73 Questions” video with Vogue comes to mind first.
The timing of LISA’s new single and Sixpence None the Richer’s tour (and new EP) is serendipitous. While pop fans like Swift first heard “Kiss Me” on the radio in the late ’90s, LISA’s Gen Z audience is likely getting a first introduction to the song via “Moonlit Floor.” It’s an excellent excuse to dig in to the band’s discography, just updated with a new release.
The story behind the “Kiss Me” interpolation on “Moonlit Floor”
Producer Rykeyz, with pop credits including Sam Fischer and Demi Lovato’s “What Other People Say” and CNCO’s “Pretend,” tells Billboard “Moonlit Floor” was born at Los Angeles’ Chalice Studios, where he and Jessie Reyez were in a session. They were up to their third song of the night. Rykeyz was on the Roland Juno-106, a polyphonic synthesizer manufactured in the mid-late ’80s. He recalls starting to play, and “Jessie immediately started writing as I built up the production.”
“When she sang it down, I thought it was so fresh but thought it needed something to take the chorus overboard,” Rykeyz recalls. “I jokingly started singing ‘Kiss Me’ by Sixpence None the Richer.”
“Jessie flipped out and made the most amazing lyrical flip on the song,” he says. “We were both big fans of the original [“Kiss Me”] and felt it was exactly what the song needed to take it to that next level.”
Reyez, who in September was honored with the Trailblazer Award at the Billboard Canada Women in Music celebration and in August dropped “RIDIN” with Lil Wayne, last released a full-length album in 2022, Yessie. She also charted on the Billboard Hot 100 for her feature on Sam Smith’s “I’m Not Here to Make Friends” with Calvin Harris in 2023. She spends enough time writing that she keeps a collection of songs to pitch to other artists, which is how “Moonlit Floor” made its way to LISA.
She tells Billboard she was going to include the track on Yessie, but her label wasn’t able to clear the use of “Kiss Me.”
Reyez put her internet sleuthing skills to work. She eventually got permission to interpolate “Kiss Me” on the song after connecting with Sixpence None the Richer’s singer. “I ended up going on an Instagram manhunt to find the creators of the original and managed to get it cleared myself,” says Reyez. “Shout out to Leigh Nash.”
“Ultimately the song didn’t fit the vibe of my project [Yessie] so I put it in the pitch folder for songs I give away to other artists,” she explained.
How do they feel about LISA recording “Moonlit Floor”?
“We’re so grateful LISA felt connected to the song and made it her own. She is the next big star in pop and we’re glad to be a part of her journey,” producer Rykeyz tells Billboard.
Songwriter Reyez also hopes “Moonlit Floor” pushes her a step closer to a personal career milestone. “A goal of mine is to have two of my songs in the top 10 on Billboard at the same time, but the details are specific: one song of my own, and one I’ve written. So here we go…” she says.
The release of “Moonlit Floor”
LISA’s live preview of the single at New York City’s Global Citizen Festival last weekend left fans, many of them devoted BLINKS (BLACKPINK’s fan group), curious about what seemed to be a reference to “Kiss Me” and counting down the days until LISA’s official release of “Moonlit Floor” to find out more. Fortunately, the wait wasn’t long.
“My first sweet song Moonlit floor is out now!” LISA shared on Instagram on Oct. 3, once it was released on streaming. “This song is so special because I grew up listening to Kiss Me as a child and I now get to have my own version of this song.”
“Moonlit Floor” follows the star’s consistent rollout of solo singles that’s included “Rockstar” in June and “New Woman” with Rosalía in August. All members of K-pop’s BLACKPINK have now worked on solo projects outside of the group. Next up is “Mantra,” a new single from JENNIE out on Oct. 11, and rosie, a full-length album by ROSé arriving Dec. 6.
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