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DNA (Little Mix album)

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Untitled

DNA is the debut album by British girl group Little Mix. The album was released on 19 November 2012[1] via Syco. The group began work recording the album in December 2011 and concluded in September 2012. Throughout the recording process, Little Mix worked with several producers, including TMS, Future Cut, Steve Mac, Jarrad Rogers, Richard "Biff" Stannard, Ash Howes, Jon Levine, Xenomania, Fred Ball and Pegasus. The album was co-written by Little Mix and they stated that they were involved in the development of the album as much as possible. Sonically, the album is a mixture of pop and R&B records. The album's lyrical content explores empowerment, relationships and heartbreak.

DNA received mostly positive reviews from music critics, who complimented Little Mix for bringing back girl-power and girl groups back into the music industry. The album's lead single, "Wings", was released on 26 August 2012, reaching number one in UK and Ireland as well as charting in Australia, New Zealand, Slovakia, Czech Republic and Hungary. The second single "DNA" was released on the 11 November 2012, peaking at number 3 in the UK.

Background

Shortly after Little Mix won the eighth series of The X Factor, both Gary Barlow and Biff Stannard were rumored to be writing songs for the group's debut studio album.[2] On 25 January 2012, the group made an appearance at the National Television Awards, and performed the En Vogue song "Don't Let Go (Love)". They also accompanied The X Factor judges Gary Barlow and Tulisa Contostavlos on stage to receive the Best Talent Show award won by the program.[3] During an interview backstage, the group confirmed that they themselves had been writing material for their debut album, however had not yet received any input from Gary Barlow; and that plans to release their next single in March of that year were underway. It was announced, shortly after, that the release of the single had been delayed, and would now not be released until August.[4] On 30 May 2012, the group announced through a live stream via Twitcam that their new single would be called "Wings", and a short snippet would premiere on Channel 4 that week after being played at their filming session for Alan Carr: Chatty Man. The group performed the single for the first time at the T4 on the Beach concert on 1 July 2012.[5] "Wings" received its official premiere on BBC Radio 1 on 2 July 2012. The single debuted at #1 on the UK Singles Chart on 2 September 2012.[6] On 17 September, the album's artwork was unveiled via the group's official Facebook page, which also confirmed that the album's second single, "DNA", would premiere on radio on 1 October and will be officially released on 12 November, a week prior to the release of the album.[7] The album's track listing was revealed on 28 September 2012 when it was posted on Amazon.co.uk, along with the pre-order link for the album.[1] An exclusive version of the album available at HMV comes with a free CD single of "DNA".[8]

Reception

Critical response

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic61/100[9]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[10]
The Guardian[11]
Digital Spy[12]
The Independent[13]
Time Out London[14]
BBC Music(Positive/Mixed)[15]
Metro3/5[16]

Upon its release, "DNA" received mixed to positive reviews from music critics. Al Fox from BBC Music was positive stating, "With placid, feline production, tight harmonies and breezy beats, much of DNA ambles along the well-trodden path of the temperate demi-ballad. But it’s the ventures away from this that prove Little Mix function far better either side of mid-tempo."[15] Matt Collar of AllMusic gave the album four and a half stars out of 5 saying, "The 2011 winners of Britain's The X Factor TV show, four-piece girl group Little Mix deliver a slick, high-energy mix of dance-oriented pop music with their debut full-length album, 2012's DNA...Little Mix make good on their promise of updating the '90s girl group sound of En Vogue and TLC.[10] Rebecca Nicholson from The Guardian joined in on the praised, but somewhat also a backhanded comment, "Their debut album arrives a year after the fact, and establishes their identity nicely, which is to say that they're being positioned as a sort of updated Girls Aloud with enormous drums and plenty of very "now" early-90s R&B references...When off-kilter beats collide with impeccable harmonies and pleasingly daft lyrics (literally, in the case of Madhouse, with its "Men in white coats, don't take me back there" line), it sounds like pop as it should be...", awarding the album three out of five stars.

Commercial performance

In the United Kingdom, as part of Amazon.com's Black Friday Deals Week,more than 500 customised versions of the album were sold out in just 13 seconds of release online. This feat smashed a previous record set by One Direction's debut album Up All Night, which was part of the same promotion last year. "Up All Night" was only sold out just under one minute, nearly three times slower than that of Little Mix. John Boumphrey, Director of Music, Film and TV at Amazon said, ""The girls are ahead in the Black Friday popularity stakes."[17] In Ireland, the album entered the chart at number three, trailing to Rihanna and One Direction. In the UK, it also placed in the same position behind the same two opponents.

Singles

On 30 May 2012, Little Mix confirmed the lead single and its title via Twitcam, Wings. The single sees Little Mix team up with TMS who co-produced the albums of fellow MOBO winning artists Emeli Sandé and Tinchy Stryder just to name a few.[18] "Wings" was released by Syco records on 26 August 2012 in the UK and Ireland. It was later released in New Zealand as well as Australia due to fan demands on 5 October 2012. The song was an instant hit across both sides of the globe, peaking at number one in the United Kingdom, Ireland and Scotland while reaching the number 3 spot in Australia and 15 in New Zealand. The single also charted in Hungary, Czech Republic and Slovak. Upon the first week of release, the singe racked up sales of 107,000 copies. [19] Since then, "Wings" has also been certified Gold in Australia. [20]

Following the success of "Wings", Little Mix revealed that DNA would serve as the second single of "DNA". The song was co-written and produced by TMS. The album's sophomore single was made available for digital download on iTunes on November, 11 2012. The song shares the same name as the album and during an interview, Jesy said that the song showed "a completely different side to Little Mix".

Promotion and release

Little Mix began their first overseas promotional campaign for their debut album "DNA" on 28 October 2012 in Sydney. The group appeared on The X Factor,[21] giving a live performance of their single "Wings", which had already been released in Australia. The following morning, the group appeared on Sunrise. Their Australian promotional tour lasted a week and destinations included Sydney and Melbourne. The group have now planned for a nationwide tour in January to February 2013.[22] In New Zealand and Philippines, there are official Little Mix Street teams who regularly hold rallies in their capital cities in order to promote the album as well as to persuade Little Mix to tour their country.

Live performances

Little Mix performed the song for the first time at the T4 on the Beach concert on 1 July.[23][24] They also performed on Friday Download on 13 July, and on the second episode of the second series of Red or Black?, which aired on 25 August. On 18 July, the group performed a live acoustic session of "Wings" on In:Demand.[25] They also performed at G-A-Y Heaven on 18 August, which was celebrating their first birthday as a group. The Little Mix girls also released an acoustic version of "Wings" in late August. On September 3, after they reached number one with "Wings", the performed on the relaunch show of Daybreak. On 30 October and 31 October, the quartet performed on The X Factor and Sunrise respectively. The group performed "DNA" live on BBC Radio 1's Teen Awards 2012 along with their chart-topping "Wings".[26] On 24 October 2012, the group performed an a cappella version of "DNA" during a live UStream video.[27] Little Mix are also set to perform on The X Factor.

On 16 November 2012, for Children In Need, Little Mix performed the song 'Change Your Life'. Little Mix made an appearance on BBC Breakfast to promote their album on 21 November. As part of the promotion, Little Mix performed an unplugged version of DNA on BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge as well as on ITV show Loose Women on 23 November 2012.

Little Mix are also headlining their first ever UK tour to promote the album.

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Wings"Little Mix, Tom Barnes, Ben Kohn, Iain James, Heidi Rojas, Erika Nuri, Michelle Lewis, Mischke Butler & Peter KelleherTMS3:39
2."DNA"Little Mix, Barnes, Peter Kelleher, Kohn, JamesTMS3:56
3."Change Your Life"Little Mix, Richard "Biff" Stannard, Tim Powell, Ash HowesStannard, Powell, Howes3:21
4."Always Be Together"Ester Dean & Dapo TorimiroDAPO4:26
5."Stereo Soldier"James, Barnes, Kohn & KelleherTMS3:22
6."Pretend It's OK"Little Mix, Luke Fitton, Brian Higgins & Miranda CooperXenomania3:44
7."Turn Your Face"Steve Mac & Priscilla ReneaMac3:41
8."We Are Who We Are"Mac, Wayne Hector & Ina WroldsenMac3:03
9."How Ya Doin'?"Little Mix, Lewis, Babalola, Lewis, Carter, Skinner, Volpeliere-Pierrot, Thorp, Brookhouse, DrummondFuture Cut3:12
10."Red Planet" (featuring T-Boz)Jon Levine, Autumn Rowe & Tionne "T-Boz" WatkinsLevine3:46
11."Going Nowhere"Little Mix, Nicola Roberts, Fred Ball & JamesBall3:45
12."Madhouse"Little Mix, James, R.Sandilands & R.MorrisPegasus3:49
Deluxe Edition Bonus Tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
13."Love Drunk"Paul Meehan, Tim Woodcock, Alessandro Benassi & Leigh-Anne PinnockJarrad Rogers3:35
14."Make You Believe"Barnes, Kelleher, Kohn, Philippe-Marc Anquetill & JamesTMS3:41
15."Case Closed"Little Mix, Robbie Lamond, Cathy Dennis, Darren Lewis & Iyiola BabalolaLamond & Future Cut3:12
16."DNA" (Unplugged)Little Mix, Kohn, James, Kelleher & BarnesTMS4:15
Deluxe Edition Bonus DVD[28]
No.TitleWriter(s)Director(s)Length
1."Wings" (music video) Max & Dania3:39
2."Wings" (acoustic) (video)  3:40
3."We Are Young" (acoustic) (video)Nate Ruess, Andrew Dost, Jack Antonoff, Jeff Bhasker 5:15
4."Creating Our DNA" (video)  15:42
HMV Bonus CD[8]
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."DNA"Little Mix, Barnes, Kelleher, Kohn, JamesTMS3:56
2."DNA" (Kat Krazy Radio Edit)Little Mix, Barnes, Kelleher, Kohn, JamesTMS 
iTunes Store Bonus Video[29]
No.TitleLength
21."Mastermind"4:51
iTunes Store Pre-Order Bonus Track[30]
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
13."We Are Young" (Acoustic)Ruess, Dost, Antonoff, BhaskerRogers5:12

Charts

Chart (2012) Peak
position
Australian Albums Chart 10
Irish Albums Chart 3
New Zealand Albums Chart 14
Scottish Albums Chart 5
UK Albums Chart 3

Release history

Regions Dates Format(s) Label
Ireland 16 November 2012 CD, digital download Syco Music
United Kingdom 19 November 2012
Australia[31] 23 November 2012 Sony Music Australia
New Zealand 23 November 2012

References

  1. ^ a b "DNA: Amazon.co.uk: Music". Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 2012-09-30.
  2. ^ Bull, Sarah; Kirsty, McCormack (12 December 2011). "Little Mix hit the jackpot! Girl group set to make £8 million from lucrative contracts after winning the X Factor". Daily Mail. London. Retrieved 21 December 2011.
  3. ^ "National Television Awards: The X Factor wins best Talent Show". 25 January 2012. STV. Retrieved 27 January 2012.
  4. ^ Deen, Sarah (2012-09-21). "Little Mix delay release of first official single Wings until August". Metro. Associated Newspapers. Retrieved 2012-09-30.
  5. ^ Fehintola Betiku. "Little Mix debut their first original single Wings at T4 On The Beach | Mail Online". Daily Mail. Retrieved 2012-09-30.
  6. ^ "2012-09-08 Top 40 Official UK Singles Archive". Official Charts. 2012-09-08. Retrieved 2012-09-30.
  7. ^ "Little Mix to debut new single 'DNA' next week - Music News". Digital Spy. Hearst Magazines. 2012-09-26. Retrieved 2012-09-30.
  8. ^ a b hmv
  9. ^ "DNA- Little Mix". Metacritic. CBS Interactive Inc. 19 November 2012. Retrieved 15 December 2012.
  10. ^ a b Collar, Matt (2012-11-15). "Little Mix – DNA review". AllMusic. Retrieved 2012-11-23.
  11. ^ Nicholson, Rebecca (2012-11-15). "Little Mix – DNA review". The Guardian. Retrieved 2012-11-23.
  12. ^ Corner, Lewis (2012-11-15). "Little Mix – DNA review". Digital Spy. Retrieved 2012-11-23.
  13. ^ Simon Price (11 November 2012). "Little Mix – DNA review". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 November 2012.
  14. ^ Rachel Aroesti (11 November 2012). "Little Mix – 'DNA'". Time Out (company). Retrieved 23 November 2012.
  15. ^ a b "Music - Review of Little Mix- DNA". BBC Music. BBC. 1 November 2012. Retrieved 23 November 2012.
  16. ^ "Little Mix's DNA tries admirably to escape the curse of X Factor winners". Metro. Metro. 23 November 2012. Retrieved 23 November 2012.
  17. ^ Rowley, Alison (2012-11-23). "Little Mix customised 'DNA' albums sell out in 13 seconds on Amazon". Digital Spy. Retrieved 2012-11-23.
  18. ^ "TMS". Wikipedia. Retrieved 23 November 2012. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  19. ^ "Wings sales". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 23 November 2012.
  20. ^ "Wings gone Gold". ARIA Charts. Retrieved 23 November 2012.
  21. ^ "Continuing their world domination: X Factor winners Little Mix perform to hundreds of fans in shopping centre Down Under". Daily Mail Online. Retrieved 01 November 2012. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  22. ^ "Little Mix announce first UK headline tour for 2013". BBC Radio 1 Newsbeat. Retrieved 03 September 2012. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  23. ^ "Little Mix debut original new single 'Wings' on T4 On The Beach". Daily Mail. Retrieved 2012-07-10.
  24. ^ "Little Mix debut new single 'Wings' - listen". Retrieved 2012-07-10.
  25. ^ "Little Mix Dazzle With In Demand 'Wings' Performance". http://thelavalizard.com. Retrieved 2012-07-25. {{cite web}}: External link in |publisher= (help)
  26. ^ "Little Mix- Wings". Retrieved 2012-10-07.
  27. ^ "Little Mix get Twitter praise for DNA acoustic version during Ustream video". Retrieved 2012-10-24.
  28. ^ http://www.play.com/Music/CD/4-/37216047/0/DNA/ListingDetails.html
  29. ^ iTunes - Music - DNA: The Deluxe Edition by Little Mix
  30. ^ iTunes - Music - DNA by Little Mix
  31. ^ "Dna (Deluxe) | CD & DVD Music, Music Genres, Pop/Rock : JB HI-FI". Retrieved 28 October 2012.
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