"Skinny Genes" is a song performed by British recording artist

Eliza Doolittle Eliza Doolittle is a fictional character and the protagonist in George Bernard Shaw's play ''Pygmalion'' (1913) and its 1956 musical adaptation, ''My Fair Lady''. Eliza (from Lisson Grove, London) is a Cockney flower woman, who comes to Profe ...

. The song serves as her debut single and first single from her debut album, ''

''. The track was co-written by Doolittle in collaboration with Tim Woodcock and the song's producer Matthew Prime. "Skinny Genes" was one of three tracks where Doolittle had worked with Prime and Woodcock for her debut album. The single was officially released on 11 April 2010 by

Parlophone Records Parlophone Records Limited (also known as Parlophone Records and Parlophone) is a German–British record label founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company as Parlophon. The British branch of the label was founded on 8 August 19 ...

on digital download-only format, accompanied by a

b-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

entitled "Police Car" (written by Doolittle and Craigie Dodds''

'' liner notes

(2010)). The track is inspired by love-hate relationships and contains prominent

indie pop Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and sub ...

musical characteristics. Lyrically, "Skinny Genes" refers from a feminist point of view to how one can dislike all the personality traits of a partner but still enjoy the sexual chemistry one shares with them. "Skinny Genes" garnered a positive response from contemporary music critics. The song also achieved mainstream success; debuting and peaking at number twenty-two 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 ...

. The song was accompanied by a 70s and 80s-styled

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

directed by Daniel Eskills and released on 25 December 2009. Doolittle performed the single live at

London Fashion Week London Fashion Week (LFW) is a clothing trade show that takes place in London twice a year, in February and September. Showcasing over 250 designers to a global audience of influential media and retailers, it is one of the 'Big Four' fashion wee ...

and on the British television stations

GMTV GMTV (an acronym for Good Morning Television), now legally known as ITV Breakfast Broadcasting Limited, was the name of the national Channel 3 breakfast television contractor/licensee, broadcasting in the United Kingdom from 1 January 1993 ...

and STV. "Skinny Genes" featured in an advert for Very featuring

Fearne Cotton Fearne Wood ( Cotton; born 3 September 1981) is an English broadcaster and author''.'' She began her career in the late 1990s presenting various children's television shows for GMTV, CITV and CBBC. In 2007, she presented '' The Xtra Factor'', ...

and

Holly Willoughby Holly Marie Willoughby ( ; born 10 February 1981) is an English television presenter, author and model. She is currently the co-presenter of ITV's '' This Morning'' (2009–present) and '' Dancing on Ice'' (2006–2011, 2018–present) alongsid ...

. "Skinny Genes" was later re-released on 27 December 2010. A new video was made from the re-release. The track went on to make

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

's A-Playlist in the UK in late 2010. "Skinny Genes" is written in the key of

E major E major (or the key of E) is a major scale based on E, consisting of the pitches E, F, G, A, B, C, and D. Its key signature has four sharps. Its relative minor is C-sharp minor and its parallel minor is E minor. Its enharmonic equivalent, ...

and follows the chord progression E major, F# minor, and B major.

Background

"Skinny Genes" was the first single from ''

'', Doolittle's debut album. Before its official release, "Rollerblades" was originally speculated to be Doolittle's debut single. "Skinny Genes" was later confirmed as her official debut single and was originally planned for release on 29 March 2010. It was then pushed back for release on 5 April. The single was finally pushed back another week and officially released on 11 April 2010 on digital download format only. A planned

CD single A CD single (sometimes abbreviated to CDS) is a music single in the form of a compact disc. The standard in the Red Book for the term ''CD single'' is an 8 cm (3-inch) CD (or Mini CD). It now refers to any single recorded onto a CD of any si ...

release for "Skinny Genes" on 12 April 2010 failed to surface. Note: Use search function for non-existent "Skinny Genes" CD "Skinny Genes" was mischievously inspired lyrically by an irritating but sexy boy. Doolittle described the song as having very light and happy but thoughtful lyrics, saying: "I think about what I want to say, when I write songs." Leonie Cooper of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' described the song as having "tell-it-like-it-is-lyrics". Doolittle explained "Skinny Genes" to

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927). The service provides national radio stations covering th ...

Steve Lamacq Stephen Paul Lamacq (born 16 October 1964), sometimes known by his nickname Lammo (given to him by John Peel), is an English disc jockey, currently working with the BBC radio station BBC Radio 6 Music. Early life He attended The Ramsey Academy ...

The single is something I made up in my head. I just thought it would be quite a funny scenario where you didn't like someone, if they were really annoying, but you had a good time under the sheets.

Track listing

*Digital single #"Skinny Genes" – 3:03 #"Skinny Genes" (Slugz & Joe London Mix) – 5:31 #"Police Car" – 3:21 *The Remixes Promo #"Skinny Genes" (Acid Washed Radio Edit) – 3:31 #"Skinny Genes" (Acid Washed Main Mix) – 4:14 #"Skinny Genes" (Acid Washed Dub Remix) – 4:42 #"Skinny Genes" (Melé Remix) – 5:36 #"Skinny Genes" (Slugz & Joe London Mix) – 5:31 *Re-release digital download #1 #"Skinny Genes" – 3:05 *Re-release digital download #2 #"Skinny Genes" – 3:05 #"Skinny Genes" (music video) ''(second version)'' - 3:03

Charts

Release history

References

{{Authority control 2010 singles Eliza Doolittle (singer) songs Parlophone singles Songs written by Matt Prime Songs written by Tim Woodcock Songs written by Eliza Doolittle (singer) 2010 songs Songs with feminist themes