There is no other girl group like them; they have broken records and have proven just how talented women can be. The British girl group, Little Mix, defines all these things through their music. They have recently released their fourth album "Glory Days" on November 18, 2016.
Little Mix was formed in 2011 during the eighth season of The X Factor UK and they are the first and only group so far to win the competition. The members of Little Mix are Jade Thirlwall (24), Perrie Edwards (23), Leigh-Anne Pinnock (25), and Jesy Nelson (25). When winning the competition, they signed to Simon Cowell's record label Syco and released a cover of Damien Rice's song "Cannonball" as their winner's single. Their winner's single topped the UK Singles Chart on December 18, 2011.
Following their X Factor win and record label signing, the group began working on their debut single and album. Their first single titled "Wings" was released on August 24, 2012 and it features modern beats, drums, horns, and clapping. The song is a pop arrangement with elements of R&B and old school. As far as the lyrics of the song goes, it features themes of girl power, maternal advice, and individuality. The single topped the UK Singles Chart and sold 107,000 copies in its first week. The single was certified triple platinum in Australia and with the success of the single came the music video right after. The second single was titled "DNA" and it was released in October. The song became Little Mix's third consecutive top ten hit in both the UK and Ireland. The music video for the single was released in late October.
Following the success of "Wings" and "DNA," Little Mix released their debut studio album titled "DNA" on December 19th of that same year. The album consists of a mixture of pop and R&B records, with some influences of dance-pop, pop rock, and hip hop found in specific songs. There were two post-album songs released: "Change Your Life" on February 3, 2013 and the remix of "How Ya Doin?" featuring Missy Elliot on April 17, 2013; both songs reached the top 20 in the UK. The album charted in the top 5 in eight countries, including number three in the UK and at number four on the US Billboard 200. In result, this made Little Mix the first girl group since Danity Kane in 2006 to reach the top 5 with their debut album. They also earned the highest debut Billboard chart position by a British girl group, breaking the record previously held by the Spice Girl's debut album "Spice" (1996).
Following the success of their debut album; Little Mix began working on new material for their second album. In an interview with Digital Spy in March of 2013, they stated that they wanted their second album to have a more R&B sound. On October 4, 2013 they released a video on their official YouTube page announcing that their second studio album would be titled "Salute" and that it would be available for pre-order on October 7. The album was released on November 11, 2013 in the UK and on February 4, 2014 in the US. The album was largely co-written by Little Mix, who stated that they were more involved in the development of this album than with their debut. The album retains the pop sound of their debut album "DNA" (2012), while also delving deeper into a more mature R&B sound. The album debuted at number seven in the Irish Albums Chart and number four on the UK Albums Chart. It became their second top ten in North America, debuting at number six on the US Billboard 200 and selling an estimated 40,414 copies in its first week.
The lead single from their second studio album was titled "Move"; this song is definitely an R&B song that moves away from Little Mix's previous melody-led ventures. The second single from the album was "Little Me" and it peaked at number 14 on the UK Singles Chart. They decided to release it as the second single because it held a lot meaning to them and was written with their fans in mind. Robert Copsey of Digital Spy gave the song a positive review, calling it "effortless and uplifting" and awarding it four out of five stars. In another four-star review, Renowned for Sound's Melissa Redman complimented the song's "exceptional vocals," "perfect harmonies," and "mature lyrics." The final single from the album was "Salute" and the music video for the single received over 1 million views within 24 hours. Lyrically, "Salute" is a girl-power song with military metaphors, war sirens, and hip hop and trap influences.The song became a top-ten hit on the charts of Scotland and United Kingdom, becoming the band's sixth top-ten single in the UK.
At the 2015 Brit Awards, the group announced that their third studio album was complete. They described it as having a "whole new sound" and projected it's release for some time in 2015. There were over 100 songs written for this album, and in May of 2015 they released the lead single titled "Black Magic." The song debuted at number one in the UK and remained at the top of the chart for three weeks, becoming the first single by a girl group to do so since Sugababes's "About You Now" in October of 2007. The single also reached number 67 in the US, becoming their highest peaking single on Billboard Hot 100. In June they performed the song for the first time for Capital's Summertime Ball at the Wembley Stadium along with some of their previous hits.
On July 15, 2015, the group officially announced on Twitter that their third studio album would be titled "Get Weird.""Love Me Like You" was released as the second single from the album, but it was released as a single only in the UK, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand. The group performed the song for the first time at X Factor Australia in October of 2015, then at the Royal Albert Hall in December of 2015 and at the Capital Jingle Bell Ball. The group's third studio album "Get Weird" was released on November 6, 2015 anddebuted at number two in the UK becoming their highest charting album there. In the US, the album peaked at number thirteen on Billboard 200 making Little Mix the only girl group from the UK to have their first three albums debut in the top fifteen of the Billboard 200. It also has been certified double platinum in the UK and has sold over 600,000 copies as of August 2016, making it their best selling album yet.
After the albums release, Little Mix announced that "Secret Love Song" featuring Jason Derulo would be the third single and it reached number 6 on the UK Singles Chart. On April 1, 2016, the song was certified gold in the UK for selling over 400,000 copies. The song peaked at number 16 in Australia and has been certified double platinum for selling over 140,000 copies despite not being released worldwide. On March 13, 2016 Little Mix embarked on The Get Weird Tour to promote the album, the arena tour consist of 60 dates across Europe, Australia and Asia. The Get Weird Tour holds the record for being the highest selling UK arena tour of 2016 with over 300,000 tickets sold in the UK alone. The group announced on April 15, 2016 that "Hair" would be the fourth single off the album and would feature newly recorded guest vocals from Sean Paul. The single reached number 11 on UK chart while peaking at number 10 in Australia making it their fourth top 10 single there.
On June 21, 2016 it was revealed that the group had begun working on their fourth studio album; they later confirmed that they would be releasing new music "before Christmas." In an interview with V Festival, the group announced that the lead single from their fourth studio album would be released in October. On October 13, 2016 they announced that the lead single was titled "Shout Out To My Ex" and that their fourth studio album would be titled "Glory Days." "Shout Out To My Ex" was released on October 16, 2016 and debuted at number one on the UK Singles Chart becoming their fourth chart topping single there. It sold 67,000 downloads in its opening week, becoming the biggest opening week download sales for a song in 2016 in the UK. "Glory Days" was released on November 18, 2016 and debuted at number one on the UK album chart, becoming the group's first UK number one album. The album sold 96,000 copies in combined sales in the first week which is the highest first week sales for a UK girl group number one album since the Spice Girls in 1997 and the fastest-selling number one album by any girl group in 15 years, since Destiny’s Child's "Survivor" in 2001. "Glory Days" has spent five weeks at number one on the UK album chart as of January 13, 2017, making it the longest reigning girl group number one since Spice Girls' debut 20 years ago, surpassing Destiny's Child's "Survivor." Little Mix announced on December 5, 2016 that "Touch" would be released as the second single from Glory Days; it was released on December 12, 2016 and has reached number four in the UK.
Little Mix is currently the opening act for Ariana Grande's Dangerous Women Tour, along with Victoria Monet. Also at the 2017 Brit Awards they are nominated for three awards; Best British Group, Best British Single for "Shout Out to My Ex," and Best British Video for "Hair." The group is set to embark on The Glory Days Tour in support of their fourth studio album "Glory Days"; it is scheduled to begin on May 24, 2017 in Europe with the first UK date being on October 9 in Scotland.
Below is a list of my favorite to least favorite album's by Little Mix ( I like all of them, but I listen to some more than others) The list will also include top five songs from each album.
1. Glory Days
"Glory Days" is my favorite album by Little Mix because it's very empowering and each song on the album transitions well together. I also like the fact that it doesn't have many ballads because that is something Little Mix is known for having on every album. Having little ballads shows how versatile they can be when it comes to their sound of music. Lastly, the album shows off every one in the groups vocal range and for me this is something I notice that Little Mix does with every one of their albums. This to me shows that everyone in the group has a voice and has a part in the music process; I believe this is something many singing groups lack such as Fifth Harmony and even Destiny Child.
My Top 5 Songs: Touch (Acoustic), Nobody Like You, Private Show, Nothing Else Matters, and Your Love
2. Salute
"Salute" is my second favorite album by Little Mix because it provides a good mix of R&B ballads and up tempo songs. I also like that the songs are mature in lyrics compared to the first album; this shows the girls growth into adulthood. Additionally, I appreciate how the songs are more relatable and allows the fans to connect to the girls even more. Lastly, I like the fact that the girls are more involved in the writing process and this allows them to let their personal stories be heard more clearly. The girls definitely write most of the songs for the next two albums to come after and in an Q&A they did this past year, Jade states that she wished people would get over the rumor that they don't write their own songs.
My Top 5 Songs: Little Me, Good Enough, About The Boy, Towers, and They Just Don't Know You
3. Get Weird
"Get Weird" is my third favorite album from Little Mix because it provides so many amazing ballads that show off every members' vocal range. Additionally, this album gets more personal into each members love life on the subject of heart break. This album transitions well between ballads and very up tempo songs; this provides a very versatile album as far as instrumental sounds and beats. Lastly, one of the songs called "The Beginning" on the album discusses them coming together as a group and how they will always be together forever and that this is just the beginning of their career as a group. This song also reminds me of "Always Be Together" from their first studio album; these type of songs to me allow for people to know that they are not going anywhere and that they have a strong friendship.
My Top 5 Songs: Love Me or Leave Me, Secret Love Song Pt 2, I Won't, The End, and Lightning
4. DNA
"DNA" is my last favorite album from Little Mix because it doesn't provide a good transition between songs, but the vocal ranges are still there. Additionally, this album isn't very mature in lyrics and it isn't connectable as far as some songs go. On a positive note there are songs that definitely stick out to me as far as lyric formation, subject, and vocal range. These songs are: "Always Be Together" and "Change Your Life." These songs have lyrics that connect together, the subject of the songs are connectable to fans, and these songs definitely show off each members vocal range.
My Top 5 Songs: Turn Your Face, DNA, Going Nowhere, Pretend It's Ok, and Always Be Together
I hope you guys enjoyed this article; I really love doing music profiles on my favorite artist. Lastly, I hope you guys go and listen to Little Mix because they have songs everyone can connect to.
