WORTH A LOOK?: ***
OUT: now
TRACKLIST: Shout Out To My Ex; Touch; F.U; Oops; You Gotta Not; Down And Dirty; Power; Your Life; Nobody Like You; No More Sad Songs; Private Show; Nothing Else Matters
Shout Out To My Ex was everything we wanted from a lead-off single for this, their fourth album.
- Read on for reasons including details of the Glory Days world tour
Not only was it their catchiest release since 2015 chart-topper Black Magic, it also referenced the elephant in the room – lead singer Perrie Edawards’ failed romance with One Direction’s Zayn Malik – but it also signalled a lyrical coming of age from the band.
We loved this year’s Get Weird tour (we’ve seen gigs for each of the last three albums) but it felt as if there was only so much more mileage in the Little Muffins’ tank and now was the time for a very public growing up.
We’ve waited a few days before reviewing Glory Days because it was an album we desperately wanted to be seduced by.
What we think it lacks is a killer ballad along the lines of Change Your Life, Little Me or Secret Love Song. Nothing Else Matters is a pleasant and melodic shuffler but doesn’t quite hit the heights of its slow song predecessors from each album.
What it boasts in spades is the adult attitude and feistiness that we’d be baying for, particularly on the finger-clicking F.U. which manages to sound both cutting edge and sampling The Righteous Brothers’ Unchained Melody.
We’re not wholly convinced by next single Touch as yet and are just hoping that this not-so-Little Mix is just taking a tad more time to grow on us. That single of the year monsta for Shout Out To My Ex may just be in the bag however.
One look at their 2017 Glory Days tour itinerary may just give some indication as to where the band’s priorities and next challenge now lies: the first 35 dates are in the US.
