Single Review: Mollie King — “Hair Down” (Xenomania Revival Part 1)
Songwriting and production team Xenomania are responsible for most of Girls Aloud’s hit singles. They also created such great pop moments as Cher’s “Believe” and Mini Viva’s “Left My Heart In Tokyo”.
Britain’s primary purveyors of marvellous pop music have remained uncharacteristically quiet in the recent past, but now Brian Higgins and co. are ready for a triumphant return to the charts.
The Xenomania revival is spearheaded by ex-The Saturdays member Mollie King. A week later, ex-Girls Aloud star Nadine Coyle will follow.
Let’s take a close look at Mollie’s new single “Hair Down” to see whether Xenomania have still got their magic.
The Artist
Mollie King rose to fame as one-fifth of the girlgroup The Saturdays. Between 2008 and 2014 the band had no less than eight UK Top Five singles, one of which — 2011’s “All Fired Up” — was a Xenomania creation.
After The Saturdays had announced an indefinite hiatus, Mollie signed a solo deal with Island Records, a subsidiary of Universal Music. She released her debut single “Back To You” last year, but the melancholy ballad failed to achieve chart success, peaking at #90 in the UK.
“Hair Down” is Mollie’s second attempt at a solo hit and without doubt her make-it-or-break-it moment. Collaborating with Xenomania should theoretically be a guarantee for success — that is, if Higgins and co. manage to deliver the kind of pop behemoth we’ve come to expect from them.
The Song
“Na na na na na na na na!”
Is it still possible in 2017 to write a pop song that builds around a “na na na” hook and doesn’t sound silly or cheap? Yes, apparently it is, because that’s exactly what Xenomania have down with “Hair Down”.
The track opens with an infectious sax-heavy hook, then immediately moves into that irresistable “na na na” bit. The chorus is lyrically simple, but melodically sublime. The verses slow down just enough to give the listener time to breath without diminshing the song’s dancefloor-filling qualities. After the first verse it’s right back into a powerful pre-chorus. Then there’s more “na na na”s, another chorus, and everything once again from the top.
“Hair Down” is clearly a product of Xenomania’s characteristic, often talked-bout writing process. “They work in a completely different way,” Mollie explains in an interview with officialcharts.com. “They piece together songs and sort of build them up over time.” Instead of writing from top-to-bottom, or in other words from first verse to last chorus, Xenomania write and record individual hooks and then see which of those go together to make a song.
This writing process leads to pop songs that are basically one catchy hook after the other and feature no filler parts at all. “Hair Down” is a good example of this, since it keeps its pace and energy from the very first second to the very last. As mentioned before, the lyrics aren’t particularly inspiring or revolutionary, but that’s truly all there is to criticise.
Xenomania have definitely not lost their magic. “Hair Down” is exactly the monster of a pop song Mollie King — and the entire record-buying public — needs right now.
Final Rating: 9/10
The Video
Pop has always relied heavily on visuals. With Mollie singing lines like “gotta let my hair down, I just wanna dance now,” you expect a video with lots of dancing, lots of colours, a little sass, and a little glitter.
That is exactly what you get.
Mollie dances in shimmering neon outfits in front of brightly coloured backgrounds. She gives you shoulder rolls, glances over the shoulder, frantic arm movements, and flawless hairography, capturing the carefree vibe of the song perfectly. Just like the track itself, the video is so POP that it almost seems out of place in today’s music landscape.
Then again, it’s exactly that overdose of POP that makes both the song and the video feel so right. Mollie and Xenomania came back with a much-needed, glittering bang.
Purchase “Hair Down” wherever music is sold and follow Mollie King and Xenomania on their social media.
