De la capăt

Voltaj is a Romanian band, consisting of Călin Goia on lead vocals, Gabriel Constantin on guitar, Adrian Cristecu on keyboards, Valeriu Ionescu on bass and Oliver Sterian on drums.[2] "De la capăt", a Romanian language song, was released for digital download by Cat Music and Voltz Media on 31 October 2014.[3] Since then, two more versions of the song had been created: "De la capăt (All Over Again)", in Romanian and English, and "All Over Again", solely in English. They were featured alongside a shortened edit of "De la capăt" on its digital re-release on 17 March 2015 conducted by the same labels.[4] Cat Music also published an enhanced CD in Romania on 30 March 2015, further listing the music video of "De la capăt (All Over Again)", a TV documentary surrounding it, and the short film Calea Dunǎrii (Way of the Danube).[5]

The lyrics of "De la capăt (All Over Again)" were written by Goia, Constantin, Cristescu, Silviu Marian Păduraru and Victor Răzvan Alstani, while music was composed by the aforementioned alongside Monica-Ana Stevens and Andrei-Mădalin Leonte.[6] Musically, "De la capăt" has been described as an indie pop rock and soft rock song.[7][8] It is a manifesto, raising awareness for children whose parents have left them behind to work abroad.[9][10][11] Voltaj also previously had launched online campaigns in collaboration with Romanian child-care organizations to support the same cause.[2] Goia further elaborated:[12]

"Those kids live a trauma because of the lack of affection when their parents are away, working abroad, although they receive gifts and packages from them. People must know that Romanians are not lazy or thieves and the biggest majority are hard-working and honest, making enormous sacrifices for their families left behind. Therefore, they must be respected and not discriminated because of this."

Upon its release, "De la capăt" received mixed reviews from music critics. In a Wiwibloggs review containing several reviews from individual critics, Goia's vocal delivery and the song's touching message were praised, although it was noted as unspectacular and outdated. Overall, the reviewers on the website gave the song 6.13 out of 10 points.[7] Carl Greenwood of Daily Mirror awarded the song four out of five stars,[13] while Bella Qvist of The Guardian praised its message, predicting that it "will no doubt hit home with the many Europeans who have seen an influx in foreign-born workers".[11] Irving Wolther of Eurovision.de similarly applauded the song's message and lyrics, as well as Goia's vocal delivery.[8] Some observers noticed similarities to "I Could Sing of Your Love Forever" (1995) by English contemporary Christian band Delirious?.[14] In a 2016 poll on Wiwibloggs called "What is your favourite Eurovision song from Romania?", the track finished in seventh place with over 300 votes.[15]

Commercially, the song attained moderate success on record charts. Upon its original release in October 2014, "De la capăt" peaked at number 23 on Romania's Airplay 100 chart for the week ending 15 December 2014,[16] however it reached a new high at number 22 on 26 January 2015.[17] It further peaked at numbers ten and 18 on Media Forest's Radio and TV Airplay charts, respectively.[18][19] Later in 2015, "De la capăt (All Over Again)" reached number 70 on Austria's Ö3 Austria Top 40 chart and number 48 on Iceland's Tonlist ranking.[20][21] At the 2015 Radio România Actualități Awards, "De la capăt" won in the Best Pop Rock Song category, while Voltaj were awarded for Best Pop Rock Artist.[22]

Voltaj performed the song multiple times upon its release. The band appeared on native radio stations Kiss FM,[23] Radio ZU,[24] Radio 21,[25] and Europa FM in November 2014.[26] In the December of the same year, they also sang "De la capăt" live during a Kiss FM event to celebrate the Great Union Day.[27] Furthermore, Voltaj performed the track at the Eurovillage event in Vienna in May 2015,[28] and at Sala Polivalentă in Cluj-Napoca in January 2016.[29] An accompanying music video for "De la capăt" was uploaded onto Cat Music's YouTube channel on 1 December 2014.[30] It was directed by Dan Petcan, while Bogdan Filip was hired as the director of photography and Zebra Film as the producers.[31] The video features scenes from the 2013 Romanian short film Calea Dunării directed by Sabin Dorohoi, which tells the story of a boy in a Romanian village on the Danube river trying to regain contact with his parents who work in Vienna.[32][33]

The clip begins with Ionuț (played by Răzvan Schinteie) writing a letter to his parents and then putting it into an envelope. In another shot, he and his sister Ana (played by Serena Stanciu) open a package sent by his parents, containing a present; he copies their address seen on the package onto the aforementioned envelope and sends it. However, the letter eventually returns due to an unknown address. Learning this, he packs his rucksack and travels on the Danube by boat. Interspersed shots during the clip's main plot show Ionuț and his grandfather (played by Constantin Dinulescu) travelling the Danube, Ionuț in the classroom looking at a map of Austria, as well as Voltaj performing on a ship and on the top of a mountain.[2][30][31] The same footage was also used for the music videos of "All Over Again" and "De la capăt (All Over Again)", released on 3 and 17 March 2015, respectively.[34][35] In both visuals, the following text further appears onscreen halfway through: "More than 3 million Romanians are working abroad, trying to make a better life for their children. Unfortunately, the children are left behind."[13]

• Euro-orphan