Hollywood Records has announced that the shoe company Candie’s is taking over “the majority of the cost” for Heroes star Hayden Panettiere’s single “Wake Up Call,” which will be released on Aug. 5. The song will be aggressively marketed by the fashion company, which gave a couple of Fergie songs the same treatment last year; it’s described as “reggae-flavored,” which makes me think Ace Of Base, which makes me think of an atrociously hooky song blaring from radios in the hottest month of the year. And thanks to its presence in the ad campaign, “Wake Up Call” will probably blare whether or not it’s actually popular. You’ve been warned.

The ad campaign will begin at the end of July, while the song will be released digitally Aug. 5. “Wake Up Call” will appear on Panettiere’s still-untitled debut album, which is slated for 2009.

Candie’s announced an advertising and marketing pact with Panettiere in February. The brand’s incorporation of her music into the campaign follows in the footsteps of its deal last summer with Interscope and Fergie, whose songs “Big Girls Don’t Cry” and “Glamorous” were promoted in Candie’s TV commercials.

While best-known to audiences as world-saving cheerleader Claire Bennet on NBC’s “Heroes,” Panettiere’s record deal with Hollywood precedes her prime-time success from the past two years, according to Hollywood Records senior VP of marketing Ken Bunt.

“We had to work within her crazy schedule to determine what direction she wants to go with her music,” Bunt says. “Wake Up Call” is a reggae-flavored pop song that was written by Andreas “Quiz” Romdhane and Josef Larossi, who have previously written tracks for Geri Halliwell, Diana Ross, Il Divo and Westlife.

As proof that Panettiere truly is a singer, and not just some moonlighting actor like Terrence Howard, here’s a godawful ballad she recorded for Cinderella III: The Search For Spock.

Panettiere Launching Music Career With Candie’s [Billboard]
Hayden Panettiere - I Still Believe (full Video)