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New in Town (song)

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"New in Town"
Single by Little Boots
from the album Hands
B-side"New in Town (No One Is Safe – Alex Kapranos Remix)"
Released15 May 2009 (2009-05-15)
RecordedEcho Studios
(Los Angeles, California)
GenreElectropop
Length3:19
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Greg Kurstin
Little Boots singles chronology
"Meddle"
(2008) 		"New in Town"
(2009) 		"Remedy"
(2009)

"New in Town" is the debut single by English recording artist Little Boots from her debut studio album, Hands (2009). Written by Little Boots and Greg Kurstin and produced by Kurstin, the track was released as the album's lead single on 25 May 2009 in the United Kingdom.[1] The song was inspired by the nights Little Boots spent in Los Angeles recording the album. "New in Town" debuted on the UK Singles Chart at number thirteen.

Background and writing

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"New in Town" was the first song composed by Little Boots and Greg Kustin in Los Angeles while recording songs for her debut album. According to Little Boots, the song is about "being a stranger in a strange place which is fun but also has a dark side, and someone showing you around and in the end just kind of letting go."[2] While in Los Angeles, Little Boots felt isolated and lonely. She primarily drew inspiration for the track's lyrics from several strange individuals she met and the "seedy side of life" in the city.[3] She chose to release the track as the album's lead single because "it's very bold and colourful and doesn't really sound like anything else out there."[2]

Release

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In the United Kingdom, "New in Town" was added to the BBC Radio 1 C List on 23 April 2009.[4] In May 2009, the song was added to the BBC Radio 1 A List.[5]

The song appears on the official soundtrack to the 2009 American comedy horror film Jennifer's Body,[6] as well as on the second episode of the second season of 90210 (which used the Fred Falke remix),[7] the first episode of the fourth season of Friday Night Lights,[8] the eighteenth episode of the fourth season of Ugly Betty[9] and the twenty-second episode of Mercy.[10] The song was also featured in the promo for the final season of The Hills.

Critical reception

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"New in Town" received generally positive reviews from music critics. In a review for Digital Spy, Nick Levine called the song an "electropop nugget" that "is sure to get us all stomping."[11] Fraser McAlpine of the BBC Chart Blog opined that the song is "a little bit 'Take Me Out' by Franz Ferdinand and it's a little bit 'The World Should Revolve Around Me' by Little Jackie, only refracted through Booty's bassquake synthpop prism and suitably kaleidoscopic as a result."[12] Michael Cragg of musicOMH deemed the song to be "a real grower" and compared it to Goldfrapp.[13] Clash critic Joe Zadeh commented that the track "gathers energetic momentum and is delivered with the sassy nonchalance that made Santogold so intriguing."[14] Gareth Grundy of The Observer disagrees, writing that the song will "work", but that "something's missing—her."[15] Virgin Group gave "New in Town" a rave review, referring to it as "a fantastic electro synth-fused pop record, with the catchy-ness of any chart-topping dance floor classic with an edgy attitude to match", and also noted that "[w]hilst it may be more straightforward pop than some of her previous efforts it is nonetheless a very impressive effort and fairly unique in comparison to the current chart."[16] K. Ross Hoffman of Allmusic praised the song's "brash and buzzy strut" and described it as "absolutely massive-sounding".[17] Andrzej Lukowski of Drowned in Sound felt that the song "is just too perky, feeling both formulaic and calculating, its chorus combining a Radio 1-stupid hands-in-the-air sentiment."[18] Giving the song a six out of ten rating, Pitchfork Media's Ryan Dombal stated that Little Boots "needs to chill on the chirp[y]" vocals.[19]

Commercial performance

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"New in Town" debuted and peaked at number thirteen on the UK Singles Chart, where it spent thirteen non-consecutive weeks altogether in the top one hundred.[20] The track debuted on the Irish Singles Chart at number seventeen,[21] peaking at number sixteen two weeks later.[22]

Music video

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The music video was directed by Jake Nava in April 2009.[23] It was filmed in Los Angeles and features Little Boots and a group of dancers wandering and dancing under a highway overpass.[24] The video begins with Little Boots driving around Los Angeles in the back of a car. She is then shown wandering around under a highway overpass in a blue dress and dancing with a group of homeless people. This is followed by scenes of rival gangs dancing and young indie couples making out in their cars.

Track listings

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Charts

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Release history

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Region Date Label Format(s)
United Kingdom 15 May 2009[26] 679 Recordings, Atlantic Records Digital download
25 May 2009[38] CD single, 7" single, 12" single
United States 21 July 2009[27] Elektra Records Digital download

References

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  1. ^ Lamb, Bill (28 April 2009). "Introducing Little Boots". About.com. The New York Times Company. Retrieved 3 May 2009.
  2. ^ a b "Little Boots is 'New in Town'". FACT. The Vinyl Factory. 3 April 2009. Archived from the original on 23 July 2011. Retrieved 7 May 2009.
  3. ^ Balls, Dave (1 May 2009). "Little Boots". Digital Spy. Retrieved 3 May 2009.
  4. ^ "Merriweather makes Radio Two see Red". Music Week. 23 April 2009. Retrieved 10 May 2009.
  5. ^ "Radio 1 Playlist – A List". BBC Radio 1. Retrieved 17 May 2009.
  6. ^ Phares, Heather. "Jennifer's Body – Original Soundtrack". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 17 October 2010.
  7. ^ "90210 Music | Season 2 – Episode 202". The CW. Retrieved 17 October 2010.
  8. ^ "East of Dillon". Friday Night Lights. Season 4. Episode 1. 28 October 2009. The 101 Network.
  9. ^ Ganz, Caryn (1 April 2010). "Ugly Betty Recap: Jolly Old England". Vulture. Retrieved 17 October 2010.
  10. ^ "That Crazy Bitch Was Right". Mercy. Season 1. Episode 22. 28 October 2009. NBC.
  11. ^ Levine, Nick (1 May 2009). "Little Boots: 'New in Town'". Digital Spy. Retrieved 3 May 2009.
  12. ^ "Little Boots – 'New in Town'". BBC Chart Blog. 21 May 2009. Retrieved 17 October 2010.
  13. ^ Cragg, Michael. "Little Boots – Hands". musicOMH. Archived from the original on 7 May 2009. Retrieved 3 May 2009.
  14. ^ Zadeh, Joe (1 May 2009). "Little Boots – Hands". Clash. Retrieved 3 May 2009.
  15. ^ Grundy, Gareth (19 April 2009). "Pop Review: Little Boots, New in Town". The Observer. Retrieved 3 May 2009.
  16. ^ "Review: Little Boots – New in Town". Virgin Group. 30 April 2009. Archived from the original on 18 July 2011. Retrieved 17 October 2010.
  17. ^ Hoffman, K. Ross. "Hands – Little Boots". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 17 October 2010.
  18. ^ Lukowski, Andrzej (10 June 2009). "Little Boots – Hands". Drowned in Sound. Archived from the original on 14 July 2012. Retrieved 17 October 2010.
  19. ^ Hogan, Marc (7 May 2009). "Little Boots – "New in Town"". Pitchfork. Retrieved 17 October 2010.
  20. ^ "Little Boots – New in Town". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 17 October 2010.
  21. ^ "Top 50 Singles, Week Ending 28 May 2009". Chart-Track. Irish Recorded Music Association. Archived from the original on 14 March 2012. Retrieved 17 October 2010.
  22. ^ a b "Top 50 Singles, Week Ending 11 June 2009". Chart-Track. Irish Recorded Music Association. Archived from the original on 14 March 2012. Retrieved 17 October 2010.
  23. ^ Timmermans, Arjan (29 April 2009). "Video Premiere: Little Boots "New in Town"". ArjanWrites.com. Retrieved 3 May 2009.
  24. ^ Hesketh, Victoria (17 April 2009). "youtube killed the video star..." littlebootsmusic.co.uk. Archived from the original on 13 May 2009. Retrieved 3 May 2009.
  25. ^ a b c "New in Town [single] – Super Bundle". littlebootsmusic.co.uk. Archived from the original on 19 June 2009. Retrieved 3 May 2009.
  26. ^ a b "New in Town – EP by Little Boots". iTunes Store UK. Apple Inc. 15 May 2009. Archived from the original on 14 May 2010. Retrieved 27 January 2010.
  27. ^ a b "New in Town Remix – EP by Little Boots". iTunes Store US. Apple Inc. 21 July 2009. Retrieved 27 January 2010.
  28. ^ a b "New in Town Remixes" (Promotional CD #1). 679 Artists. April 2009.
  29. ^ "New in Town Remixes" (Promotional CD #3). 679 Recordings. April 2009.
  30. ^ "ARIA Club Tracks – Week Commencing 22nd June 2009" (PDF). ARIA Charts. Australian Web Archive. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 August 2009. Retrieved 5 December 2009.
  31. ^ "ARIA Hitseekers – Week Commencing 27th July 2009" (PDF). ARIA Charts. Australian Web Archive. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 August 2009. Retrieved 25 November 2012.
  32. ^ "Little Boots – New in Town" (in Dutch). Ultratop. Hung Medien. Retrieved 21 November 2009.
  33. ^ "European Hot 100 – Week of June 13, 2009". Billboard. Retrieved 20 January 2013.
  34. ^ "Billboard Japan Hot 100". Billboard Japan. Hanshin Contents Link. 20 July 2009. Retrieved 14 November 2010.
  35. ^ "Little Boots – New in Town". charts.nz. Hung Medien. Retrieved 15 March 2011.
  36. ^ "2009 Top 40 Official UK Singles Archive". Official Charts Company. 6 June 2009. Retrieved 20 January 2013.
  37. ^ http://www.ukchartsplus.co.uk/UKChartsPlusEOY2009.pdf [dead link‍]
  38. ^
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