"Just a Little Bit" is a song by English singer and former

Sugababes Sugababes are a British girl group composed of Mutya Buena, Keisha Buchanan and Siobhán Donaghy. The lineup changed three times before returning to the original lineup in 2011. Formed in 1998 by All Saints manager Ron Tom, Sugababes releas ...

member

Mutya Buena Rosa Isabel Mutya Buena (born 21 May 1985) is an English singer and songwriter who rose to fame as a member of girl group the Sugababes. With the Sugababes, Buena had four UK number one singles, an additional six top-ten hits and three multi-pl ...

. The song was written by

Eg White Francis Anthony "Eg" White (born 22 November 1966) is a British musician, songwriter and producer. He started his career in the cowpunk band Yip Yip Coyote in the 1980s and then formed Brother Beyond with his brother, David White, in the late ...

and Pam Sheyne, and produced by White. It is the

opening track An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records coll ...

from her debut studio album ''

Real Girl ''Real Girl'' is the debut and only album by British singer Mutya Buena. It was released on 4 June 2007 via Universal Records, following her departure from UK girl group the Sugababes in December 2005. Singles " Real Girl", the album's lead ...

'', and was released in the United Kingdom on 22 October 2007 as the album's third single. "Just a Little Bit" is an R&B song with elements of

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

. It received generally positive reviews from music critics, who commended Buena's vocal performance. The single peaked at number 65 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. Buena performed it at The Borderline, London in April 2007.

Development and release

"Just a Little Bit" was written and produced by the British musician

, who wrote the song in collaboration with Pam Sheyne. The song was recorded by English singer

for her debut studio album ''

'' (2007), and serves as the album's

. "Just a Little Bit" was released in the United Kingdom on 22 October 2007 as the third single from ''Real Girl''. Buena spoke about her nervousness about the song's release, saying: "I think about it all too much. Coming out of a successful group like the Sugababes, you want to do as well or better. You see so many artists who’ve come out of bands nose-dive and I think, 'I don’t want that to be me'." The CD single contains a radio edit of the song, three remixes, and its accompanying music video.

Composition

"Just a Little Bit" is an R&B song with a

Motown Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau of ''moto ...

-inspired opening. Buena's vocals in the song are soulful and

upbeat Up beat may refer to: *Upbeat, in music, the last beat in the previous bar which immediately precedes the downbeat *Anacrusis, a note (or sequence of notes) which precedes the first downbeat in a bar in a musical phrase * ''Upbeat'' (album), by t ...

. It differs from her previous single " Song 4 Mutya (Out of Control)" which prominently featured synthesizers and

rave A rave (from the verb: '' to rave'') is a dance party at a warehouse, club, or other public or private venue, typically featuring performances by DJs playing electronic dance music. The style is most associated with the early 1990s dance mus ...

elements. "Just a Little Bit" is reminiscent of the Sugababes' earlier material and has a "delicate and tender approach", according to Alex Fletcher from

Digital Spy Digital Spy (DS) is a British-based entertainment, television and film website and brand and is the largest digital property at Hearst UK. Since its launch in 1999, Digital Spy has focused on entertainment news related to television programmes, ...

. Fletcher described the song's composition, writing: "'Just a Little Bit' takes a laid-back jazz beat, some funked-up guitar twangs, and the sort of easy listening rhythm that TLC and En Vogue used to toss about willy-nilly 15 years ago. While it's splendid to hear Buena deliver her delicious dulcet tones without Groove Armada sticking their oars in, there is more than a faint whiff of '90s nostalgia about the tune. So much so that you half expect Easther and Vernie from Eternal to join in with the harmonies at one point."

Reception

Critical response

The song received generally positive reviews from music critics. Harry Guerin of

RTÉ.ie RTÉ.ie is the brand name and home of Irish broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ)'s online activities, located at the URL https://www.rte.ie/. The site began publishing on 26 May 1996. According to RTÉ, it operates on an entirely com ...

wrote that "Just a Little Bit" was one of the tracks from ''Real Girl'' that shows Buena at her best, and elaborated that it "establishes her soul credentials". ''

The New Zealand Herald ''The New Zealand Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Auckland, New Zealand, owned by New Zealand Media and Entertainment, and considered a newspaper of record for New Zealand. It has the largest newspaper circulation of all newspapers ...

'' critic Rebecca Barry Hill praised Buena's vocal performance on the song, which she characterised as "bluesy". Claire Allfree from ''

Metro Metro, short for metropolitan, may refer to: Geography * Metro (city), a city in Indonesia * A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center Public transport * Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urba ...

'' regarded "Just a Little Bit" as one of the album's better tracks and described it as an "itchy opener". Alex Fletcher from Digital Spy gave the song a three out of five star rating and wrote, "It lacks that killer pop hook to make it anything more than a decent album track". ''

The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...

'' writer Kevin Courtney also rated the song three out of five stars and compared it to the success of her former bands' success: "It may not steal Subjugates' thunder, but it should grab a flash of the limelight". Mickey McMonagle from the '' Sunday Mail'' commended Buena's vocal delivery, but admitted that the song is "slightly lacklustre at times" despite being a decent track. ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

s Andy Gill placed the song in his "Download this" category.

Chart performance

Upon release, the single failed to become a commercial success in the UK, where reached number 65 on the

and charted for two weeks.

Live performance

Buena performed "Just a Little Bit" in April 2007 at London's music venue The Borderline. ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the w ...

'' critic

Kitty Empire Kitty Empire is the pen name of a British writer and music critic, currently writing for ''The Observer''. Early life Empire says that she was born in Montreal, Quebec in 1970 and brought up in Canada, Italy and Egypt before arriving in Britai ...

wrote that during the performance, the track "plays its old soul cards nicely", and that Buena's sound was evocative of English singer Gabrielle's.

Charts

References

{{authority control 2007 singles Mutya Buena songs Songs written by Eg White Songs written by Pam Sheyne 2007 songs Island Records singles