Success seems to be happening at a snail’s pace for Shontelle. The Barbadian singer-songwriter (and friend of Rihanna) had a #13 hit with “Impossible” in May 2010, but follow-up single, “Perfect Nightmare” didn’t arrive until September, released as part of her second album, No Gravity. The song landed with a thud, though it deserved better, making my Top Tracks of 2010 year-end list.

Well, Shontelle (and her label) haven’t given up on No Gravity, and it’s time for you to fall hard for her if you haven’t already. A music video for the album’s third single, “Say Hello To Goodbye,” premiered at the tail end of last month, and is slowing picking up momentum. Shontelle recently discussed the genesis of the song with Parlé Magazine:

At the time I was literally going through a break-up and wanted to write about it. “Say Hello to Goodbye” is what came out. It’s about the end of the road and accepting when something is over. That’s real life. I was in a great place when I wrote that song — Sweden. In the winter I think you get about 6 hours of sunlight if you’re lucky, so it was just a real gloomy dark place and I wrote from there.

As evidenced by its inclusion here, I think “Say Hello To Goodbye” is a solid single, and should help Shontelle stand out (the song currently sits at #30 on the Pop Songs chart). Pop music with emotional depth doesn’t often cross my desk these days, and who can’t relate to its heartbroken-but-standing-strong sentiment? It also doesn’t hurt that the guitar part at the song’s start brings to mind Sarah McLachlan’s “Building A Mystery”, which I still find completely swoon-worthy. Maybe Shontelle has found her lane: Alternative pop, perhaps?

In addition to “Say Hello To Goodbye,” Shontelle’s probably keeping an eye on how another of her musical babies is faring. She co-wrote Rihanna’s “Man Down,” a song currently stirring up controversy for its revenge-killing clip.

Purchase Shontelle – “Say Hello To Goodbye” via iTunes, Amazon MP3.