Get Weird

Get Weird
Studio album by Little Mix
Released	6 November 2015 (2015-11-06)
Recorded	2014–15
Genre	Synthpop dance-pop R&B[1]
Length	42:17
Label	Syco Columbia
Producer	Electric TMS Jayson DeZuzio Nick Monson TroyBoi Kiris Houston Jez Ashurst Camille Purcell Joe Kearns Nathan Duvall Phil Cook Steve Mac Matt Rad
Little Mix chronology
Salute (2013) Get Weird (2015) Glory Days (2016)
Singles from Get Weird
"Black Magic" Released: 21 May 2015 "Love Me Like You" Released: 25 September 2015 "Secret Love Song" Released: 3 February 2016 "Hair" Released: 15 April 2016

Get Weird is the third studio album by British girl group Little Mix. It was released on 6 November 2015, through Syco Music and Columbia Records. The album was preceded by the release of the singles "Black Magic" and "Love Me Like You". Two further singles were subsequently released from the album, "Secret Love Song" and "Hair".

Get Weird peaked at number two on the UK Albums Chart^[2] with sales of 60,053 in its first week.^[3] It also charted at number one in Ireland, number two in Australia, and in the top twenty in twelve other charts, including Sweden, Italy, Netherlands, and the US. As of November 2015, Little Mix are the only girl group from the UK to have their first three albums debut in the top fifteen of the Billboard 200.^[4] As of August 2016, the album has been certified double platinum in the UK for shipments of over 600,000 units.^[5]

Background

At the 2015 Brit Awards, Little Mix confirmed that their album was completed, describing it as having a "whole new sound" and projecting the release for sometime in 2015.^[6] In May 2015, having written over 100 songs for their third album, they released "Black Magic", the lead single from their third album.^[7] They also co-wrote Britney Spears and Iggy Azalea's single "Pretty Girls", which was released in May 2015.^[8] The group stated that the album had more of a pop sound than their previous album Salute, an R&B-style album, with the songs being very fun, colourful and personality driven.

On 15 July 2015, the group officially announced on Twitter that their third studio album would be titled Get Weird, and would be available for pre-order the next day.^[9] Shortly before the album's release, it was revealed that they were forced to change some of the lyrical content on some of their songs, namely "Love Me Like You" and "A.D.I.D.A.S.", both of which contain sexual themes.^[10]

Singles

In February 2015, Little Mix revealed that they had chosen the lead single from Get Weird.^[6] On 14 May 2015, they announced the song's name was "Black Magic", after the single's cover art surfaced on music identification service Shazam.^[11] "Black Magic" was scheduled to premiere on 26 May but was later moved forward to 21 May, after the single leaked online on 20 May. The single was released digitally in the UK on 10 July 2015, and was number 1 on the UK charts for three weeks.

On 25 September 2015, the group released "Love Me Like You" as the second single from the album.^[12] An official music video followed. On 5 December 2015, it was announced that "Secret Love Song" would be released as the third single from the album in the UK and Ireland.^[13] It was sent to UK radio on 7 December 2015. On 11 April 2016, the group announced that "Hair" would serve as the fourth single from Get Weird, and would feature newly recorded guest vocals from reggae pop recording artist Sean Paul. The single was released on 15 April 2016.^[14]

Promotional singles

"Hair" was released as a promotional single on 28 August 2015, to online streaming and as a digital download included in the pre-order of the album.^[15] The song charted at number 35 on the UK Singles Chart.^[16] A full music video for "Hair" was included in pre-orders for the deluxe version of the album. "Weird People" was released as the album's second promotional single on 16 October 2015. The song charted at number 78 on the UK Singles Chart.^[17] "Grown" was released as the album's third and final promotional single on 30 October 2015. The song charted at number 72 on the UK Singles Chart.

Promotion

Little Mix performed "Black Magic" at Capital's Summertime Ball in Wembley Stadium on 6 June 2015.^[18] They performed the song on the eighteenth series of wish-granting television show Surprise Surprise. The group performed "Black Magic" at the 2015 Teen Choice Awards on 16 August 2015.^[19] They also performed acoustic versions of the single.

Tour

The Get Weird Tour was officially announced on 17 July 2015 through the band's Twitter.^[20] It began on 13 March 2016 in Cardiff, Wales at the Motorpoint Arena and continue throughout the UK, Asia, Australia and Europe, concluding with a rearranged gig in Belfast on 2 July. The UK gigs were extended from 31 March, and the gig in Cologne was moved to the Palladium from the Live Music Hall, both due to demand. On 13 October 2015, it was announced that the tour would also include dates in Australia,^[21] making it the first time that Little Mix would headline a tour outside of the UK and Ireland.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	66/100[22]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
The Guardian	[23]
The Independent	[24]
NME	[25]
Música Nueva	[26]

Get Weird received generally positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 66, which indicates "generally favourable reviews", based on 5 reviews.^[22] AllMusic described the album as "ear-poppingly catchy" and said, "There's a kinetic energy to many of the tracks on Get Weird that brings to mind the arty '80s dance-pop of bands like Yello crossed with the crisp, bluesy soulfulness of Robert Palmer", and concluded that "ultimately, Little Mix's stylish, decade-blending synergy works, and Get Weird ends up being a lot of fun".^[1] NME noted that "the group's personality and powerhouse vocals light up Get Weird, a hook-filled and witty collection of unapologetic pop. With the exception of a moody trap ballad called 'Lightning', this consistently impressive third album is never as inventive as, say, Girls Aloud in their pomp, but its tune count isn't far behind... It might not be that weird, but by this point, you'd be forgiven for thinking that Little Mix are cooler than you gave them credit for."^[25] The Guardian stated that Little Mix "spend much of their third album skipping through the cute corridors of 90s tween pop rather than angling for austere adulthood" which the reviewer found to be initially disappointing, but concluding that "business is largely buoyant".^[23] The Independent had mixed feelings, saying "there are lots of little things to like about Little Mix's third album... balanced, of course, by plenty of irritations".^[24]

Chart performance

Get Weird peaked at number 2 on the UK Albums Chart^[2] with sales of 60,053 in its first week.^[3] It also charted at number 1 in Ireland, number 2 in Australia, and in the top 20 in 12 other charts, including Sweden, Italy and the Netherlands. The album also debuted at number 13 on the Billboard 200, but dropped out of the album chart after two weeks.^[27] It ranked at number 11 for the year's best selling albums in the UK with sales of 389,000.^[28] The album had sold 604,000 copies worldwide as of February 2016.^[29] As of August 2016 the album has been certified double platinum in the UK for shipments of over 600,000 units.^[30]

Track listing

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Get Weird.^[31]

Notes

• ^{^a} signifies an additional producer.
• "A.D.I.D.A.S." contains elements from "Hold On, We're Going Home" by Drake.

Charts and certifications

Release history

References