Review: Little Mix, “Move”

‘Move’ confronts that very awkward issue that’s always pushed to the fore at Willow. Girls like boys who can dance, and a vast majority have two left feet. Fortunately, the Little Mix girls are so tenacious that they aren’t going to take a no for an answer. “You’ve got to let yourself go,” Jade implores seductively toward the halfway point of the first verse.

The song bounces along over drums and shimmy inducing beats through to the chorus, which in typical Little Mix style is a gorgeously executed harmony, “So when we move, you move.”

As if to assert their ability to lure men onto the dance floor, Leigh-Anne struts out attempting her best Kelly Rowland impression (she doesn’t have the vocal gymnastics to be Beyoncé), and lays it down with a pretty aggressive vocal for the member of the band normally consigned to leading a snarky Brit-accented rap. “Oh silly! Why you afraid? Don’t be a big baby, quit playing games!” They really are not taking the boys hesitance to dance for a no.

There’s a gorgeous R & B “Whoa,” from Perrie as the song thunders along toward the bridge, but before you think this band are all Destiny’s Child vocal and no TLC rap, Leigh-Anne asserts her credentials again. Although it probably falls more into a Britney in ‘Me Against The Music’ rap than ‘No Scrubs’, it’s still pretty impressive and again packs a punch in the face of attitude.

Little Mix had a lot riding on this, since all they’ve been saying since they dropped the last cut from DNA was that their new album and single would be ‘more R&B.’ They’ve pulled it off with suitable aplomb though, and in a pop market swamped with boy band’s who are already starting to fail, the time’s ripe for Little Mix to conquer the charts.