"Salva Mea" (faux Latin for "save me") is a song by British electronic band Faithless, written by members Rollo, Sister Bliss, and Maxi Jazz. The female vocals on all versions are performed by Rollo's sister Dido. "Salva Mea" was released in July 1995 by Cheeky Records as the group's first single from their debut album, Reverence (1996), and became a hit on the UK Dance Singles Chart; following a re-release in 1996, it peaked at number nine on the UK Singles Chart. The single topped the US Hot Dance Club Play chart twice—during its first chart run in 1996 and again in 1997 when the track was remixed and reissued.[1] A black-and-white music video was produced to promote the single, directed by British director Lindy Heymann.[2]
In a retrospective review of the Reverence album, Justin Chadwick from Albumism commented, "While “Insomnia” is phenomenal, it was primarily the epic grandeur and sinister soundscape of “Salva Mea” that blew me away and made me fall madly in love with Faithless’ transcendent sound. Among the group’s myriad standout songs, it’s still my most beloved."[3] Upon the 1995 release, Alan Jones from Music Week called it "the piece de résistance" of the album, noting that "the severely under-rated single" marked Rollo as "the Jim Steinman of dance music."[4] In November 1996, Everett True from Melody Maker wrote, "Starts off teasingly like Enigma, with smooth, sequenced female vocals, before breaking out into the most massive handbag house floor-filler imaginable, with beats as full-on and insidious as The Orbital's 'Box'. And, somewhere, it slips into one cool rap, courtesy of Maxi Jazz."[5] Same year, Music Week gave it three out of five, stating that "this pizzicato synth-driven floorfiller, with its distinctive changes in tempo and vocals, should emulate their recent number three hit 'Insomnia'."[6] Alan Jones added, "Finally, the inevitable has happened and Faithless's finest recording 'Salva Mea' is back with even more new mixes. As far over the top as Rollo & Sister Bliss have ever got, it's an epic tune and every inch a Top 10 hit."[7]
