Following the Neptunes-influenced current single, Little Mix have turned their attention to Timbaland on this new album track
A few weeks ago a girlband called Miss Dynamix were booted off The X Factor to the general surprise of no one other than Simon Cowell. Originally three solo acts, they'd been fused together in the hope of manufacturing genuine charisma but it didn't really work, so off they went. In 2011, the same formula was used to create Little Mix, who went on to win thanks to the fact that they seemed to get on, looked like they didn't share one personality between them and could hold their own vocally. Since then they've had a couple of UK number 1 singles, released the amazing DNA and had a top 5 album in America, the latter feat breaking a slightly convoluted-sounding chart record previously held by the Spice Girls.
Album number two tends to be when these sorts of things unravel and yet the chorus-less, oddly structured Neptunes-esque Move – the first single from their forthcoming album, Salute – hints at the sort of risk-taking that's usually the first thing to go once a Syco act gets near the charts. This sense of messing with the formula (and aping early-noughties R&B production) continues on the mainly acapella Boy, premiered here. Opening with layers of vocal harmonies and spare finger clicks, Boy is about a no good man who forgets to say nice things and is generally a bit of an idiot. After a minute of minimalism a beat arrives that isn't so much inspired by Timbaland as potentially lifted from a number of different Aaliyah and Ginuwine singles, complete with baby-ish vocal yelps as part of the beat (at 2:37). It's testimony to the sheer strength of their personality, however, that it never sounds like simple pastiche, with the song they've constructed (and yes they do help write their songs, calm down) good enough to transcend the influences.
Salute is out on November 11.