Fresh off a stunning performance at Paris’s Accor Arena, Miel de Botton returns with something deeply intimate, and endlessly universal. The new animated video for “Forever Man”, taken from her Loved Ones Volume 1 EP, is a visual love letter to the kind of romance that lives in our daydreams: ideal, unwavering, and gloriously imagined.
Crafted by Turkish animator and all-round creative polymath Mertcan Mertbilek, the video is an emotional companion to the track, a swirl of hand-drawn devotion and poetic melancholy. Miel knew she wanted to work with Mertcan from the start, having been drawn to his sensitive, expressive style. The result? A slow-burning kaleidoscope of longing that perfectly matches the track’s sweeping orchestration.
“Forever Man” itself is a sonic patchwork of love’s many layers. Written by Miel and shaped musically in collaboration with her trusted inner circle, it features her longtime creative partner Sam Swallow on piano and orchestration, while the London Community Gospel Choir brings warmth and soaring harmony to the arrangement. It’s a track that doesn’t just tell a story, it builds a whole world around it.
Reflecting on the song’s intent, Miel shared: “I wanted to put the ideal out there. What would my ideal love be like? How would it feel? I wrote so much my producer said it could’ve been three songs, but I wanted it all in one.” That all-in approach isn’t just lyrical. It’s emotional, spiritual, and cinematic.
This drop also caps off a high point in Miel’s musical journey. Last week, she supported Simply Red on the penultimate night of their 40th anniversary tour at Paris’s iconic Accor Arena. Performing to over 11,000 fans, she delivered a bilingual set with heartfelt French renditions, including a haunting cover of Coldplay’s “Magic” — as well as tracks from Loved Ones. Unsurprisingly, “Hit Song” lived up to its name, both live and online, with over 10 million views on YouTube and streams up by a frankly wild 1486%.
Adding to the moment, she dropped the Pyramid Paris remix ahead of the show, a sleek, cinematic rework that was even projected across the big arena screens, blurring the line between music video and modern art.
Loved Ones Volume 1 is the first of a three-part series that serves as a musical memoir of sorts, thanking those closest to her while peeling back the layers of her own story. Each track reflects different relationships, cultures, and pieces of her past. From “Hit Song” to the moving tributes in “Mon Cher Petit Papa” and “Meine Mutter”, this EP is both personal and profoundly connective. Volume 2 is set to drop in January, with Volume 3 following later next year.
With mainstream radio support building, BBC London interviews, and those viral streaming numbers, Miel is undeniably having a moment. But her path to this point is as powerful as the music itself. A Swiss-born, London-based mother of two, she left behind a career in law and psychology to pursue her passion for music, proving that reinvention is possible at any stage.
Since her debut Magnetic in 2015 and follow-up Surrender To The Feeling in 2019, Miel has toured internationally, supported acts like Wet Wet Wet and Simply Red, and carved out a unique lane that fuses art, empathy, and elegance. Her philanthropic work, from arts funding to environmental advocacy, has further cemented her as someone not just creating beautiful things, but also giving back in meaningful ways. Her track “I Was Given Nature” was even chosen by WWF for their “Connect To Earth” campaign.
With “Forever Man”, she delivers another moment of clarity and connection, a reminder that the love we imagine can be as powerful as the love we live.
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