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Mutya Keisha Siobhan's 'Boys': a Q&A

  • January 7, 2013
  • Popjustice

Today, Mutya Keisha Siobhan have put 'pon de internet' a small portion of an acousticy version of their first new song in one billion years.

It's called 'Boys'.

The acoustic version is all very well, of course, but you might be wondering about the actual studio version of the track.

WONDER NO MORE.

So most import­antly, what's the tempo?
It's mid-tempo.

ABANDON SHIP! ABANDON SHIP!
Calm down. 'Freak Like Me' was mid-tempo, let's not forget.

Does 'Boys' sound like 'Freak Like Me'?
No, but it's big and electronic.

Are there harmonies? This isn't going to work if there are no harmonies.
Oh Christ yes there are harmonies all over the show. After the chorus the song slides into a bit that goes "we're over, so over, thought you could diss me then come kiss me, I told ya we're over, so over, I'm little missy sitting pretty tonight" which is harmonies a‑go-go. There are also some good "oooooooh" bits.

'Little missy sitting pretty tonight'?
We've all been there.

What else does it sound like?
It sounds like a girlband pileup.

Not sure what this means. Who wrote this song?
Mutya and Keisha and Siobhan, plus Richard 'Biff' Stannard, Shaznay Lewis and Ash Howes.

Hang on, does this mean…
Yes this does mean that the Origibabes, the man behind all the decent Spice Girls songs and the woman behind all the decent All Saints songs, and the man who did some fiddling around with Girls Aloud's 'Whole Lotta History', have col­lab­or­ated on this song, making it a sort of 'best of the girlbands' effort.

Who produced it?
Richard Stannard and Ash Howes, along with your friend and ours Mnek.

Hang on again, doesn't this mean…
Yes, Mnek worked on both 'All Fired Up' and 'Wings', which throws Little Mix and The Saturdays into the girlband pile-up.

Bloody hell. So does it sound like Girls Aloud, All Saints, the Spice Girls, Little Mix and The Saturdays?
This song doesn't sound like Girls Aloud, All Saints, the Spice Girls, Little Mix or The Saturdays. It doesn't really sound like any girlband songs, but at the same time it doesn't sound self-conscious in trying to sound different. Like all the best bits of 'One Touch' it sounds quite relaxed in its both its dif­fer­ence and its amaz­ing­ness, although it probably wasn't really that relaxed at all when you consider the weight of expectation.

What year does it sound like it was recording in?
2013. It was in fact recorded in 2012, meaning that the song is offi­cially ahead of its time if only by a few months.

It is 'fash­ion­able'?
You could argue, at a push, that there are elements of so-called 'trap music' in the pro­duc­tion.  But it also sounds like The Art Of Noise, a bit. There's a lot going on in the song but it's very sparsely produced, and despite some trickery with the pro­duc­tion there's no horrific Auto Tune nonsense going on. Oh sod it's here's a three-second clip.

Don't tell anyone about that.

What are the best bits?
When the girls go "STOP!" and the music stops. When a bell rings. "HEY!" The way "heart­break" is sung as "heart­breaaauuuuuuk".

Is this song really amazing?
Yes it is. Properly amazing.

When's it out?
As ever in the world of Mutya Keisha Siobhan, that bit's TBC.

  • Mutya Keisha Siobhan
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Mutya Keisha Siobhan — 'Boys'

  • January 7, 2013
  • Popjustice
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  • 2
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