DNA (Little Mix album)

DNA
Studio album by Little Mix
Released 16 November 2012 (2012-11-16)
Recorded January – September 2012
Genre
Length 43:50
Label Syco
Producer
Little Mix chronology
DNA
(2012)		 Salute
(2013)
Singles from DNA
  1. "Wings"
    Released: 24 August 2012
  2. "DNA"
    Released: 9 November 2012
  3. "Change Your Life"
    Released: 15 February 2013
  4. "How Ya Doin'?"
    Released: 17 April 2013

DNA is the debut studio album by British girl group Little Mix. It was released on 19 December 2012 in the United Kingdom[1] via Syco Music. The group began work recording the album in December 2011 and concluded in September 2012. Throughout the recording process, Little Mix worked with several producers, including TMS, Future Cut, Steve Mac, Jarrad Rogers, Richard "Biff" Stannard, Ash Howes, Jon Levine, Xenomania, Fred Ball and Pegasus. The album was co-written by Little Mix and they stated that they were involved in the development of the album as much as possible. Sonically, the album is primarily a mixture of pop and R&B records, with influences from dance-pop, pop rock and hip hop found on specific songs as well. The album's lyrical content explores empowerment, relationships and heartbreak. Songs on the album were also co-written by members of other girl groups, including Nicola Roberts of Girls Aloud, Shaznay Lewis of All Saints and T-Boz of TLC.

DNA received mixed reviews from music critics. The album's lead single, "Wings", was released on 26 August 2012, reaching number one in UK and Ireland as well as charting in Australia, New Zealand, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Belgium, Canada and the US. The second single, "DNA", was released on 11 November 2012, peaking at number three in the UK. Two post-album singles were released: "Change Your Life" on 3 February 2013, and a remix of "How Ya Doin'?" featuring American rapper Missy Elliott was released on 17 April 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; making Little Mix the first girl group since Danity Kane in 2006 to reach the top 5 with their debut album, as well as earning the highest debut Billboard chart position by a British girl group, breaking the record previously held by the Spice Girls' debut album Spice (1996).

Background

Shortly after Little Mix won the eighth series of The X Factor, both Gary Barlow and Richard "Biff" Stannard were rumoured to be writing songs for the group's debut studio album.[2] On 25 January 2012, the group made an appearance at the National Television Awards, and performed the En Vogue song "Don't Let Go (Love)". They also accompanied The X Factor judges Barlow and Tulisa Contostavlos on stage to receive the Best Talent Show award won by the programme.[3] During an interview backstage, the group confirmed that they themselves had been writing material for their debut album, however had not yet received any input from Gary Barlow; and that plans to release their next single in March of that year were underway. It was announced, shortly after, that the release of the single had been delayed, and would now not be released until August.[4]

On 30 May 2012, the group announced through a live stream via Twitcam that their new single would be called "Wings", and a short snippet would premiere on Channel 4 that week after being played at their filming session for Alan Carr: Chatty Man. The group performed the single for the first time at the T4 on the Beach concert on 1 July 2012.[5] "Wings" received its official premiere on BBC Radio 1 on 2 July 2012. The single debuted at #1 on the UK Singles Chart on 2 September 2012.[6] On 17 September, the album's artwork was unveiled via the group's official Facebook page, which also confirmed that the album's second single, "DNA", would premiere on radio on 1 October and would be officially released on 12 November, a week prior to the release of the album.[7] The album's track listing was revealed on 28 September 2012 when it was posted on Amazon.co.uk.[1] An exclusive version of the album sold at HMV came with a free CD single of "DNA".[8]

Critical response

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic61/100[9]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[10]
The Guardian[11]
Digital Spy[12]
Time Out London[13]
BBC Music(positive)[14]
Metro3/5[15]

Upon its release, DNA received positive reviews from music critics. Al Fox from BBC Music was positive stating, "With placid, feline production, tight harmonies and breezy beats, much of DNA ambles along the well-trodden path of the temperate demi-ballad. But it’s the ventures away from this that prove Little Mix function far better either side of mid-tempo."[14] Matt Collar of AllMusic gave the album three and a half stars out of 5 saying, "The 2011 winners of Britain's The X Factor TV show, four-piece girl group Little Mix deliver a slick, high-energy mix of dance-oriented pop music with their debut full-length album, 2012's DNA...Little Mix make good on their promise of updating the '90s girl group sound of En Vogue and TLC."[10] Rebecca Nicholson from The Guardian commented, "Their debut album arrives a year after the fact, and establishes their identity nicely, which is to say that they're being positioned as a sort of updated Girls Aloud with enormous drums and plenty of very "now" early-90s R&B references...When off-kilter beats collide with impeccable harmonies and pleasingly daft lyrics (literally, in the case of Madhouse, with its "Men in white coats, don't take me back there" line), it sounds like pop as it should be...", awarding the album three out of five stars.

Commercial performance

In the United Kingdom, as part of Amazon.com's Black Friday Deals Week, more than 500 customised versions of the album were sold out in just 13 seconds of release online. This surpassed a previous record set by One Direction's debut album Up All Night (2011), which was part of the same promotion the previous year. Customised versions of Up All Night sold out in just under one minute, nearly three times slower than that of Little Mix.[16] In Ireland, the album entered the chart at number three, behind Rihanna's Unapologetic and One Direction's Take Me Home. In the UK, it also placed in the same position behind the same two albums. By the end of the year, the album sold 234,000 copies, placing it 39th on the Top 40 biggest selling albums of the year.[17] On 19 July 2013, DNA was officially certified Platinum by the British Phonographic Industry.[18] The album spent a total of 36 weeks on the UK charts[19] and has sold 376,000 copies as of April 2016.[20]

After its Europe-wide release, the album placed in the top 5 in Italy and Norway, in the top 10 in Czech Republic and Sweden, in the top 20 in Denmark and Spain, in the top 30 in France and Portugal, and in the top 50 in Finland, Belgium and the Netherlands. It was released in United States and Canada on 28 May. DNA has peaked in the top 10 of eight countries worldwide, including the UK, Australia and Italy.

In the US, DNA entered the Billboard 200 album chart at number four after selling over 50,000 copies, behind the albums of Daft Punk (Random Access Memories), Alice in Chains (The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here and John Fogerty (Wrote a Song for Everyone). DNA was the highest charting debut-week entry album by a British girl group in the US; a record previously held by the Spice Girls' debut album Spice (1997) which debuted at number six, but which later went on to number one.[21] On digital sales alone, DNA was second in the charts.[22] As of December 2013, the album has sold over 121,000 copies in the US[23] and 10,305 copies in Canada.

Singles

On 30 May 2012, Little Mix confirmed the lead single and its title via Twitcam. For the single, "Wings", Little Mix worked with TMS, who co-produced the albums of MOBO-winning artists Emeli Sandé and Tinchy Stryder. "Wings" was released by Syco records on 26 August 2012 in the UK and Ireland. It was later released in Australia and New Zealand on 5 October 2012. The song peaked at number one in the United Kingdom and Ireland, while reaching number 3 in Australia and 15 in New Zealand. The single also charted in Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovak, Belgium, USA and Canada. Upon the first week of release, the single sold 107,000 copies.[24] Since then, "Wings" has also been certified Gold in Australia and New Zealand.[25]

The song "DNA", was selected as the second single from the album. The song was co-written and produced by TMS. The single was made available for digital download on iTunes on 11 November 2012. The song shares the same name as the album and during an interview, Jesy said that the song showed "a completely different side to Little Mix". "Change Your Life" was released as the third single on 3 February 2013.[26] "How Ya Doin'?" was chosen as the fourth and final single from the album. The single version features singer/rapper, Missy Elliott and premiered on UK radio station Capital FM on 27 March 2013.[27] The single was originally scheduled for a digital release on 5 May 2013, but instead was released on 17 April 2013.

Promotion

Little Mix began their first overseas promotional campaign for the album on 28 October 2012 in Sydney. The group appeared on The X Factor (Australia),[28] giving a live performance of their single "Wings", which had already been released in Australia. The following morning, the group appeared on Sunrise. Their Australian promotional tour lasted a week and destinations included Sydney and Melbourne. In February 2013, the group conducted a social network campaign called "Mixers Magnets", in which fans worldwide took part in games set by the girls; points were awarded to fan's countries, with the girls performing in the Top 3. The campaign was won by Italy, France and the USA. The girls made their subsequent performances in France and Italy for the Album's April release.

Little Mix performed "Wings" for the first time at the T4 on the Beach concert on 1 July.[29][30] They also performed on Friday Download on 13 July, and on the second episode of the second series of Red or Black?, which aired on 25 August. On 18 July, the group performed a live acoustic session of "Wings" on In:Demand.[31] They also performed at G-A-Y Heaven on 18 August, which was celebrating their first birthday as a group. Little Mix released an acoustic version of "Wings" in late August.

On 3 September, after they reached number one with "Wings", they performed on the relaunch show of Daybreak. On 30 October and 31 October, the quartet performed on Australian The X Factor and Sunrise respectively. The group performed "Wings" and "DNA" live on BBC Radio 1's Teen Awards 2012.[32] On 24 October 2012, the group performed an a cappella version of "DNA" during a live UStream video.[33] On 16 November 2012, for Children In Need, Little Mix performed the song 'Change Your Life'. Little Mix made an appearance on BBC Breakfast to promote their album on 21 November. As part of the promotion, Little Mix performed an acoustic version of DNA on BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge, as well as on ITV show Loose Women on 23 November 2012.

Track listing

Credits adapted from the liner notes of DNA.[34]

DNA – Standard edition
No. TitleWriter(s)Producer(s) Length
1. "Wings"  
 3:40
2. "DNA"  
  • Barnes
  • Kelleher
  • Kohn
  • James
  • Edwards
  • Nelson
  • Pinnock
  • Thirlwall
TMS 3:56
3. "Change Your Life"  
  • Stannard
  • Powell
  • Howes
 3:22
4. "Always Be Together"  
  • Dean
  • DAPO
 4:27
5. "Stereo Soldier"  
  • James
  • Barnes
  • Kelleher
  • Kohn
TMS 3:22
6. "Pretend It's OK"  
 3:45
7. "Turn Your Face"  
Mac 3:41
8. "We Are Who We Are"  
Mac 3:04
9. "How Ya Doin'?"  
Future Cut 3:13
10. "Red Planet" (featuring T-Boz)
Levine 3:46
11. "Going Nowhere"  
Ball 3:45
12. "Madhouse"  
  • James
  • Rufio Sandilands
  • Rocky Morris
  • Edwards
  • Nelson
  • Pinnock
  • Thirlwall
Pegasus 3:49
Total length:
 43:50
DNA: The Deluxe edition – Disc 1 (CD)
No. TitleWriter(s)Producer(s) Length
13. "Love Drunk"  
  • Paul Meehan
  • Tim Woodcock
  • Alessandro Benassi
  • Pinnock
  • Meehan
  • Matt Furmidge
 3:35
14. "Make You Believe"  
  • Barnes
  • Kelleher
  • Kohn
  • James
  • Anquetill
TMS 3:41
15. "Case Closed"  
  • Robbie Lamond
  • Cathy Dennis
  • Lewis
  • Babalola
  • Edwards
  • Nelson
  • Pinnock
  • Thirlwall
  • Future Cut
  • Lamond
 3:12
16. "DNA" (Unplugged)
  • Barnes
  • Kelleher
  • Kohn
  • James
  • Edwards
  • Nelson
  • Pinnock
  • Thirlwall
  4:15
Total length:
 58:33
Notes

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Chart (2012–13) Peak
position
scope="row" Australian Albums (ARIA)[40] 10
scope="row" Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[41] 48
scope="row" Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[42] 87
scope="row" Canadian Albums (Billboard)[43] 4
scope="row" Croatian Foreign Albums (HDU)[44] 21
scope="row" Czech Albums (ČNS IFPI)[45] 2
scope="row" Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[46] 13
scope="row" Dutch Albums (MegaCharts)[47] 49
scope="row" Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[48] 50
scope="row" French Albums (SNEP)[49] 24
scope="row" Irish Albums (IRMA)[50] 3
scope="row" Italian Albums (FIMI)[51] 5
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[52] 20
scope="row" Mexican Albums (Top 100 Mexico)[53] 28
scope="row" New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[54] 14
scope="row" Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[55] 5
scope="row" Portuguese Albums (AFP)[56] 30
scope="row" Scottish Albums (OCC)[57] 5
scope="row" Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[58] 17
scope="row" Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[59] 8
scope="row" Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[60] 86
scope="row" UK Albums (OCC)[19] 3
scope="row" US Billboard 200[61] 4
scope="row" US Digital Albums (Billboard)[62] 2

Certifications

Region Certification Sales/shipments
Australia (ARIA)[63] Gold 35,000
Ireland (IRMA)[64] Gold 7,500
United Kingdom (BPI)[65] Platinum 391,447[20]

^shipments figures based on certification alone
xunspecified figures based on certification alone

Release history

Regions Dates Format(s) Label
Ireland 16 November 2012
Syco Music
United Kingdom 19 November 2012
Australia[66] 23 November 2012 Sony Music Australia
New Zealand
Austria 19 April 2013 Syco Music
Belgium
Germany
Netherlands
Bulgaria 22 April 2013
Czech Republic
France
Greece
Hong Kong
India
Indonesia
Malaysia
Spain Sony Music Spain
Mexico[67] 23 April 2013 Syco Music
Italy
Poland Sony Music Polska
Philippines[68] 27 April 2013 Sony Music Philippines
Taiwan 14 May 2013 Sony Music Taiwan
Canada 28 May 2013 Columbia Records
United States
Japan 21 August 2013 Sony Music Japan

References

  1. 1 2 "Little Mix - DNA". Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 2012-09-30.
  2. ↑ Bull, Sarah; Kirsty, McCormack (12 December 2011). "Little Mix hit the jackpot! Girl group set to make £8 million from lucrative contracts after winning the X Factor". Daily Mail (London). Retrieved 21 December 2011.
  3. ↑ "National Television Awards: The X Factor wins best Talent Show". 25 January 2012. STV. Retrieved 27 January 2012.
  4. ↑ Deen, Sarah (2012-09-21). "Little Mix delay release of first official single Wings until August". Metro. Associated Newspapers. Retrieved 2012-09-30.
  5. ↑ Fehintola Betiku (1 July 2012). "Little Mix debut their first original single Wings at T4 On The Beach | Mail Online". London: Daily Mail. Retrieved 2012-09-30.
  6. ↑ "2012-09-08 Top 40 Official UK Singles Archive". Official Charts. 2012-09-08. Retrieved 2012-09-30.
  7. ↑ "Little Mix to debut new single 'DNA' next week - Music News". Digital Spy. Hearst Magazines. 2012-09-26. Retrieved 2012-09-30.
  8. 1 2 "HMV - Music, Films, & Games - HMV.com". HMV.com - home of entertainment.
  9. ↑ "DNA- Little Mix". Metacritic. CBS Interactive Inc. 19 November 2012. Retrieved 15 December 2012.
  10. 1 2 Collar, Matt (2012-11-15). "Little Mix – DNA review". AllMusic. Retrieved 2012-11-23.
  11. ↑ Nicholson, Rebecca (2012-11-15). "Little Mix – DNA review". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 2012-11-23.
  12. ↑ Corner, Lewis (2012-11-15). "Little Mix – DNA review". Digital Spy. Hearst Magazines UK. Retrieved 2012-11-23.
  13. ↑ Rachel Aroesti (11 November 2012). "Little Mix – 'DNA'". Time Out (company). Retrieved 23 November 2012.
  14. 1 2 "Music - Review of Little Mix- DNA". BBC Music. BBC. 1 November 2012. Retrieved 23 November 2012.
  15. ↑ "Little Mix's DNA tries admirably to escape the curse of X Factor winners". Metro. Associated Newspapers. 23 November 2012. Retrieved 23 November 2012.
  16. ↑ Rowley, Alison (23 November 2012). "Little Mix customised 'DNA' albums sell out in 13 seconds on Amazon". Digital Spy. Retrieved 23 November 2012.
  17. ↑ "The Official Top 40 Biggest Selling Albums Of 2012 revealed!". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2 January 2013.
  18. ↑ "BPI sales certification to be automated". Music Week.
  19. 1 2 "Little Mix | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart Retrieved 19 November 2013.
  20. 1 2 Jones, Alan (22 April 2016). "Official Charts Analysis: Drake's One Dance tops the chart for second consecutive week". Music Week (Intent Media). Retrieved 25 April 2016. (subscription required (help)).
  21. ↑ "Little Mix Breaks Spice Girls' Chart Record". Billboard. Retrieved 5 June 2013.
  22. ↑ Walker, Louisa (28 May 2013). "News: Little Mix hit No 2 in US iTunes chart on first day of release". 4Music. Retrieved 21 November 2013.
  23. ↑ "The Year In Bubbling Under: Lorde, Bastille, Passenger, A Great Big World, American Authors & More". yahoo.com. 27 December 2013.
  24. ↑ "Wings sales". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 23 November 2012.
  25. ↑ "Wings gone Gold". ARIA Charts. Retrieved 23 November 2012.
  26. ↑ Copsey, Robert (15 January 2013). "Exclusive: Little Mix: 'New music video showcases our personalities'". Digital Spy. Hearst Magazines UK. Retrieved 17 January 2013.
  27. ↑ Kitchener, Shaun (27 March 2013). "Hot Or Not? Little Mix Unveil Missy Elliott Duet 'How Ya Doin' (LISTEN)". entertainmentwise.com. Retrieved 27 March 2013.
  28. ↑ Betiku, Fehintola (1 November 2012). "Continuing their world domination: X Factor winners Little Mix perform to hundreds of fans in shopping centre Down Under". London: Daily Mail Online. Retrieved 1 November 2012.
  29. ↑ Betiku, Fehintola (1 July 2012). "Little Mix debut original new single 'Wings' on T4 On The Beach". Daily Mail (London). Retrieved 2012-07-10.
  30. ↑ "Little Mix debut new single 'Wings' - listen". Retrieved 2012-07-10.
  31. ↑ "Little Mix Dazzle With In Demand ‘Wings’ Performance". http://thelavalizard.com. Retrieved 2012-07-25. External link in |publisher= (help)
  32. ↑ "Little Mix- Wings". Retrieved 2012-10-07.
  33. ↑ "Little Mix get Twitter praise for DNA acoustic version during Ustream video". Retrieved 2012-10-24.
  34. ↑ DNA (Media notes). Little Mix. Syco Records. 2012.
  35. ↑ iTunes - Music - DNA: The Deluxe Edition by Little Mix
  36. ↑ "Dna: Italian Edition by Little Mix: Amazon.co.uk: Music". amazon.co.uk.
  37. ↑ "Dna by Little Mix: Amazon.co.uk: Music". amazon.co.uk.
  38. ↑ "Dna (Dlx)". amazon.co.uk.
  39. ↑ "ディスコグラフィ - Sony Music". sonymusic.co.jp.
  40. ↑ "Australiancharts.com – Little Mix – DNA". Hung Medien. Retrieved 4 October 2013.
  41. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Little Mix – DNA" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 4 October 2013.
  42. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Little Mix – DNA" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 4 October 2013.
  43. ↑ "Little Mix – Chart history" Billboard Canadian Albums Chart for Little Mix. Retrieved 4 October 2013.
  44. ↑ "Top Stranih [Top Foreign]" (in Croatian). Top Foreign Albums. Hrvatska diskografska udruga. Retrieved 14 July 2013.
  45. ↑ "Czech Albums – Top 100". ČNS IFPI. Note: On the chart page, select {{{date}}} on the field besides the word "Zobrazit", and then click over the word to retrieve the correct chart data. Retrieved 4 October 2013.
  46. ↑ "Danishcharts.com – Little Mix – DNA". Hung Medien. Retrieved 4 October 2013.
  47. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Little Mix – DNA" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 4 October 2013.
  48. ↑ "Little Mix: DNA" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved 4 October 2013.
  49. ↑ "Lescharts.com – Little Mix – DNA". Hung Medien. Retrieved 4 October 2013.
  50. ↑ "GFK Chart-Track Albums: Week 47, 2012". Chart-Track. IRMA. Retrieved 4 October 2013.
  51. ↑ "Italiancharts.com – Little Mix – DNA". Hung Medien. Retrieved 4 October 2013.
  52. ↑ "Little Mix - DNA (Oricon)". Oricon. Retrieved 4 October 2013.
  53. ↑ "Mexicancharts.com – Little Mix – {{{album}}}". Hung Medien. Retrieved 4 October 2013.
  54. ↑ "Charts.org.nz – Little Mix – DNA". Hung Medien. Retrieved 4 October 2013.
  55. ↑ "Norwegiancharts.com – Little Mix – DNA". Hung Medien. Retrieved 4 October 2013.
  56. ↑ "Portuguesecharts.com – Little Mix – DNA". Hung Medien. Retrieved 4 October 2013.
  57. ↑ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
  58. ↑ "Spanishcharts.com – Little Mix – DNA". Hung Medien. Retrieved 4 October 2013.
  59. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – Little Mix – DNA". Hung Medien. Retrieved 4 October 2013.
  60. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Little Mix – DNA". Hung Medien. Retrieved 4 October 2013.
  61. ↑ "Little Mix – Chart history" Billboard 200 for Little Mix. Retrieved 4 October 2013.
  62. ↑ "Little Mix – Chart history" Billboard Digital Albums for Little Mix.
  63. ↑ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2012 Albums". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 1 July 2013.
  64. ↑ "Irish album certifications – Little Mix – DNA". Irish Recorded Music Association.
  65. ↑ "British album certifications – Little Mix – DNA". British Phonographic Industry. Enter DNA in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Select Platinum in the field By Award. Click Search
  66. ↑ "Dna (Deluxe) | CD and DVD Music, Music Genres, Pop/Rock : JB HI-FI". Retrieved 28 October 2012.
  67. ↑ "Pre-Order Little Mix album iTunes Mexico". Retrieved 13 March 2013.
  68. ↑ "Watch Out For LITTLE MIX". Sony Music Philippines. Retrieved 11 April 2013.
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