Single Selection: Little Mix ~ Wings

So the new Little Mix single is actually a bit of alright, isn't it? I don't mean to sound like I'm questioning their ability to put out something so jim dandy, but it can be a bit hit and miss with reality show winners, can't it? Anyway, Wings - the debut single proper from Little Mix - upon first listen is a proper bobby dazzler of a track that seems to fit the current music market well without (mercifully) being an ibiza-esque rave anthem. Because I need another of those like a hole in the head.

But then I wrote "hole in the head" (as you have just witnessed if you have been paying attention, which I surely hope you have) and upon listening to the song again, perhaps the reason it works is that it is pretty much a tribute to lots of other current and not so current pop songs and groups. It is a casserole of pop music - a tasty casserole at that, but not necessarily the most original tune in the world then. And that's a-ok too, but here's a list of the influences that I hear...

• That horn-y first 2-3 seconds definitely reminds me of the opening bars of C&C Music Factory's Things That Make You Go Hmmm. Hmmm indeed...:D
• It then launches into the verse which is equal parts Adele's Rumour Has It (particularly the hand clapping right before the chorus) and En Vogue's Don't Let Go (which makes sense as that was probably their best X Factor moment).
• The song has not one but 2 choruses. This is immense. The first chorus could well be deemed good enough for the Girls Aloud comeback single. This is accurate to a degree if it weren't for the fact that the Girls Aloud comeback single should be something more akin to Icona Pop's I Love It.
• The next bit of the chorus is a little bit more Sugababes, but probably the early years rather than the eurovision singer years. There are bits of it that definitely remind me of Overload...
• Those "hey hey hey" chants in the middle 8 are not only quite pleasing but also very single version remix of Belinda Carlisle's We Want The Same Thing. That was a corking pop track, wasn't it??
• (For those of you with exquisite musical tastes, you may well hear a bit of the Eurythmics "Missionary Man" in there as well!)
• And of course, lyrically, it's all a bit Mariah Carey Butterfly but not so maudlin ballad.

So all in all, better than Matt Cardle's Run For Your Life, but not quite as good as Sound of the Underground.