Thanks for Leaving

Background

Stan's second studio album, still untitled at that time, was initially intended for a September 2013 release, but following an alleged physical altercation with her former manager Marcel Prodan, the recording was delayed. Stan accused him of physical attack and blackmail. This event led to her appearing injured on Romanian television and taking a career break. Meanwhile, Cliché (Hush Hush), her last record under Prodan's label – Maan Studio – was made available for consumption in Japan. It served as a reissue of Saxobeats (2011) with the addition of three songs ("Lemonade", "Cliché (Hush Hush)" and "All My People"), which were previously released as singles and were intended for her second studio album. After her recovery, the singer was sued by Prodan for using his songs in her live performances without his permission, but won the copyright battle in June 2014. Subsequently, Stan signed a record deal with Fonogram Records and continued working on her album with another team, including new collaborations with record producers and songwriters Alex Cotoi and Erik Lidbom.

Recordings and composition

After spending some months in the United States, Stan began working on the track in October 2013 at the two-weeks inaugural international songwriting FonoCamp in 2013, held in Azuga, Romania, where she met various Romanian and international artists. "Thanks for Leaving" was written by Lee Anna James, Naz Tokio, Sebastian Jacome and Alexandru Cotoi, while being solely produced by Jacome and Cotoi. When interviewed by Direct Lyrics, she stated that, "This might sound like a cliché, but I expressed myself best through my work. 'Thanks For Leaving' is a song that I had to do and had to sing, it carries such a strong emotional message for me. It talks about how important it is sometimes to just let go of things and move on. I feel like I've done that. I know others relate to the song's message too, so I do hope it has helped them do the same." The single portrays a "modern" electropop song and a pop ballad, which acts as a departure from her previous dance styles. It also serves as the first ballad released in her career. Lyrically, the recording delves on themes of new beginnings, choices that can be made in difficult situations in order to move forward, and discovering the joy of being yourself. In interviews, Stan expressed that the content of "Thanks for Leaving" is personal and refers to her recovery following her alleged violent incident previously mentioned with Prodan. Florin Grozea of newspaper Adevărul felt the line "I won't spend another day with you inside my head... How could you be so cruel? Turned me into a liar." was directly addressed to Prodan.

Reception

Upon its release, "Thanks for Leaving" was met with generally positive reviews from music critics. Romanian newspaper Adevărul praised Stan's vocal performance on the song, while also acclaiming its lyrical message. French publication Musique Mag labelled the track "a self-therapy that could climb to the top of the charts this autumn." German music website Hitfire confessed that "Thanks for Leaving" was a "beautiful pop ballad, which also didn't become too dramatic." However, the portal went on into criticizing the singer's accent in her vocals, suggesting that the recording would have sounded better in Romanian language; Hitfire further pointed out that a climax was missing in the track, and denied that "Thanks for Leaving" would become a hit. Robin Catling of Everything Express felt the song could score high at a Eurovision Song Contest, comparing it to Kelly Clarkson's works. Commercially, the song experienced minor success. It debuted on the Romanian Airplay 100 at number seventy-one on 11 May 2014, reaching its peak position at number forty-two the next week; it fell to number fifty-one in the week ending 25 May 2014. In Italy, "Thanks for Leaving" opened and peaked on the FIMI chart at position eighty-three, dropping to number ninety-seven the subsequent edition. The recording performed well on Ukraine's FDR Pop Songs, eventually peaking at number one on the week ending 1 June 2014.

Music video and promotion

The accompanying music video for "Thanks for Leaving" was directed by Khaled Mokhtar, and was previewed by several teasers before being uploaded onto Stan's YouTube channel on 28 April 2014. It was preceded by the release of three short films – "Rebirth of a Passenger", "No Regrets" and "The Right Moment", which featured the singer performing choreography with backup dancers while speaking over a background melody. The visual was filmed in various locations in the United States – including California – in the span of five days; Stan changed eleven outfits throughout the clip.

The visual opens with two men fighting, including one of them being thrown to the floor by the latter. Stan – listening to the action from her house – leaves the place by car, following which she and her boyfriend are presented sitting at opposite ends of a bed. The singer is eventually left by the male alone in the room, with him being shown entering a supermarket while Stan lays on the ground near a piano. Later, he gets back to her house again, but Stan closes the door in his face. Subsequently, she is portrayed traveling with a red car previously shown in the beginning, arriving at an old vehicle and holding a bird on her arm. Over the rest of the music video, the singer is shown meeting her love interest face to face two more times, including a performance of the song to a bar's crowd in which he is featured, sporting a white dress and head accessory. Her suitor ends struggling with alcohol issues. Scenes interspersed through the main video present the singer laying over the abandoned vehicle, and playing the piano in her room.

The song was included on the track list of Stan's Unlocked Tour (2014–15) in Japan. She uploaded a video on her YouTube channel that sees her performing the single while being accompanied by Romanian singer Viky Red on piano. The singer sang the recording live for Romanian radio stations Radio ZU, Pro FM, Radio 21 and Kiss FM. On Radio ZU, Stan further sang a medley of "Mr. Saxobeat" (2011) and "Get Back (ASAP)" (2012).

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Unlocked and The Collection.