"Skirt" is a 2013 song recorded by Australian singer
Kylie Minogue. She co-wrote the song with Chris Elliot,
Chris Lake
Chris Lake (born 8 August 1982) is a British electronic music producer and DJ. He rose to fame in 2006 with his hit single, "Changes", featuring Laura V.
Musical career
Lake first became recognized for his bootleg remixes of the Prodigy's "Cli ...
, and
The-Dream
Terius Youngdell Nash (born September 20, 1977), better known by his stage name The-Dream, is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. His co-writing credits include songs with "Me Against the Music" (2003) for Britney Spears, " Rid ...
, while Elliot and Marco Lys produced it. "Skirt"
samples "Shake & Bake", a composition by Elliot and DJ Bones. The track premiered on Elliot's
SoundCloud
SoundCloud is an online audio distribution platform and music sharing website that enables its users to upload, promote, and share audio. Founded in 2007 by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, SoundCloud is one of the largest music streaming s ...
account on 28 May 2013—Minogue's 45th birthday—before it was released as a stand-alone
promotional single
A promotional recording, or promo, or plug copy, is an audio or video recording distributed free, usually in order to promote a recording that is or soon will be commercially available. Promos are normally sent directly to broadcasters, such as ...
on 24 June. The distribution of the single, both physically and digitally as a remix
EP, was handled by Rising Music, an independent record label established by Lake.
"Skirt" is an
EDM
EDM or E-DM may refer to:
Music
* Electronic dance music
* Early Day Miners, American band
Science and technology
* Electric dipole moment
* Electrical discharge machining
* Electronic distance measurement
*Entry, Descent, and landing demonstrat ...
,
dubstep
Dubstep is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in South London in the early 2000s. The style emerged as a UK garage offshoot that blended 2-step rhythms and sparse dub production, as well as incorporating elements of broken be ...
, and
house-pop track. The lyrics portray Minogue seducing someone by dropping her skirt.
Music critics
Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on w ...
commended its production and Minogue's return to mainstream dance music. The track was Minogue's tenth number-one single on the US ''
Billboard''
Dance Club Songs chart. In order to promote the single, an accompanying
lyric 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 promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...
was published in June 2013, featuring more than 1,000 stills of her inside a hotel room.
Background and production
In February 2012, DJ Bones and Chris Elliot (under the stage name Nom de Strip) released a two-track
EP under the independent label DirtyNitrus.
The EP features an instrumental composition titled "Shake & Bake" on the
B-side.
[; ; ] Elliot wrote "Shake & Bake" using
Logic Pro
Logic Pro is a digital audio workstation (DAW) and MIDI sequencer software application for the macOS platform. It was originally created in the early 1990s as Notator Logic, or Logic, by German software developer C-Lab which later went by E ...
while he was working in music shops. In 2013, Elliot caught the attention of British producer
Chris Lake
Chris Lake (born 8 August 1982) is a British electronic music producer and DJ. He rose to fame in 2006 with his hit single, "Changes", featuring Laura V.
Musical career
Lake first became recognized for his bootleg remixes of the Prodigy's "Cli ...
, who signed him to Rising Music, his Los Angeles-based independent label. That year, Australian singer
Kylie Minogue announced she had signed a management deal with
Roc Nation
Roc Nation is an entertainment agency founded by Jay-Z in 2008. The company is headquartered in Manhattan and has additional offices in Los Angeles and London. Roc Nation comprises a comprehensive talent agency, sports agency, record label, mana ...
, an entertainment agency handled by American rapper and businessman
Jay-Z.
[; ; ; ] The announcement was made after she parted ways with her long-term manager Terry Blamey and the British label
EMI
EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British Transnational corporation, transnational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in March 1 ...
.
During the summer of 2013, Minogue and her manager had a chance meeting with Lake, who played a set for them.
Minogue selected "Shake & Bake" from that set, and recorded the instrumental track with Elliot and American songwriter
The-Dream
Terius Youngdell Nash (born September 20, 1977), better known by his stage name The-Dream, is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. His co-writing credits include songs with "Me Against the Music" (2003) for Britney Spears, " Rid ...
later that night.
RocNation introduced the singer to The-Dream, with whom she spent a few days co-writing the track. Elliot and his label-mate Marco Lys co-produced the track.
[; ] Lake was pleased with the working experience with Minogue.
He found the bass-heavy production different from Minogue's previous work and challenging for her casual listeners.
Composition
"Skirt" is an
EDM
EDM or E-DM may refer to:
Music
* Electronic dance music
* Early Day Miners, American band
Science and technology
* Electric dipole moment
* Electrical discharge machining
* Electronic distance measurement
*Entry, Descent, and landing demonstrat ...
,
dubstep
Dubstep is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in South London in the early 2000s. The style emerged as a UK garage offshoot that blended 2-step rhythms and sparse dub production, as well as incorporating elements of broken be ...
, and
house-pop song. It is written in the key of
D major
D major (or the key of D) is a major scale based on D, consisting of the pitches D, E, F, G, A, B, and C. Its key signature has two sharps. Its relative minor is B minor and its parallel minor is D minor.
The D major scale is:
:
Ch ...
and has a moderately fast tempo of 128 beats per minute. The track has sparse production between the verses and is anchored by a
bass-laden hook, which comes more than a minute into the track and appears only twice. It opens with muffled electronic beats, and features instrumentation of
keyboard
Keyboard may refer to:
Text input
* Keyboard, part of a typewriter
* Computer keyboard
** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping
** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware
Music
* Musi ...
s,
synthesizers, and a
drum machine. "Skirt" has no
middle-eight section, and the
beat drop
A drop or beat drop in music, made popular by electronic dance music (EDM) styles, is a point in a music track where a sudden change of rhythm or bass line occurs, which is preceded by a build-up section and break.
Originating from disco and 197 ...
builds up to Minogue singing the chorus. Minogue's vocals are breathy, distorted, and synthesized; she can be heard moaning and sighing towards the end of the track. At one point, Minogue chants "Down, down, down, down" over the heavy bass production. The-Dream also contributed background vocals, making breathy exclamations at the 2:03 mark.
Music critics
Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on w ...
described "Skirt" as more experimental than Minogue's other work. Alexis L. Loinaz of ''
E! Online
E! (an initialism for Entertainment Television) is an American basic cable channel which primarily focuses on pop culture, celebrity focused reality shows, and movies, owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of NBCUniver ...
'' said that the track delivers "a harder, driving sound" compared to what Minogue's audience might have expected from her.
''
The Tab
''The Tab'' is a tabloid-style youth news site, published by Tab Media Ltd. It was launched at the University of Cambridge and has since expanded to over 80 universities in the United Kingdom and United States. The name originates from both an ...
''s Harrison Brocklehurst noted that the track contains elements of dubstep, which Minogue had not previously incorporated into her music. Lyrically, Minogue sings about dropping her skirt before initiating a sexual encounter. Brocklehurst called it "a sexually charged anthem", and
Logo TV
Logo TV (often shortened to Logo, and stylized as Logo.) is an American basic cable channel owned by Paramount Media Networks, a division of Paramount Global. Launched in 2005, Logo was originally dedicated to lifestyle and entertainment progr ...
's Simon Curtis compared the sexual theme to Minogue's "
Slow
In everyday use and in kinematics, the speed (commonly referred to as ''v'') of an object is the magnitude (mathematics), magnitude of the change of its Position (vector), position over time or the magnitude of the change of its position per ...
" (2003).
Release and remixes
In February 2013, Minogue confirmed working on her twelfth studio album and a new single.
Elliot first played "Skirt" during his set at the
Pacha Ibiza nightclub before the track's premiere on his
SoundCloud
SoundCloud is an online audio distribution platform and music sharing website that enables its users to upload, promote, and share audio. Founded in 2007 by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, SoundCloud is one of the largest music streaming s ...
account on 28 May 2013, Minogue's 45th birthday. The release was made without any prior official announcement; Minogue revealed the track with a post on
Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
: "Birthday surprise!!". "Skirt" was released as a
promotional single
A promotional recording, or promo, or plug copy, is an audio or video recording distributed free, usually in order to promote a recording that is or soon will be commercially available. Promos are normally sent directly to broadcasters, such as ...
ahead of Minogue's twelfth studio album, ''
Kiss Me Once
''Kiss Me Once'' is the twelfth studio album by Australian singer Kylie Minogue, released on 14 March 2014 by Parlophone. It is her first studio release since 2010's ''Aphrodite'', and marks Minogue's first and only album with Roc Nation, handle ...
''. In July 2013, she confirmed the track was only a teaser.
"I'd like to think of it as being the ''
amuse-bouche
An ''amuse-bouche'' (; ) or ''amuse-gueule'' (, ; ) is a single, bite-sized'' hors d'œuvre''. Amuse-bouches are different from appetizers in that they are not ordered from a menu by patrons but are served free and according to the chef's selec ...
'' of the meal. Your entire meal's not going to be like that; my album's not going to be like that," says Minogue.
The track was ultimately not included on ''Kiss Me Once''.
Lake released the track and its accompanying remixes under his label Rising Music.
The label distributed "Skirt" as a digital EP on 24 June 2013, exclusively through
Beatport
Beatport is an American electronic music-oriented online music store owned by LiveStyle. The company is based in Denver, Los Angeles, and Berlin. Beatport is oriented primarily towards DJs, selling full songs as well as resources that can be u ...
. The EP included four remixes individually produced by Nom de Strip, electronic duo
GTA, English DJ
Switch
In electrical engineering, a switch is an electrical component that can disconnect or connect the conducting path in an electrical circuit, interrupting the electric current or diverting it from one conductor to another. The most common type of ...
, and American DJ Hot Mouth.
[; ] Nom de Strip's remix expanded upon the original dubstep production, while GTA and Hot Mouth were influenced by
rave and electronic dance music.
Switch's remix is a robotic house-influenced track.
The EP was physically released in China by EMI and
Gold Typhoon.
Rising Music distributed the physical EP in the UK, which featured remixes by American producers
Matthew Dear
Matthew Dear (born April 4, 1979) is an American electronic music producer and DJ.
History
Texas-born Dear moved to Michigan as a teenager, where he was inspired by the sound of Detroit Techno. Dear met Sam Valenti IV at a party while attendin ...
and
Mark Picchiotti
Mark Picchiotti is an American DJ, producer, remixer and songwriter based out of Chicago, Illinois. As a remixer and producer, Picchiotti has amassed 24 number one singles on the '' Billboard'' Dance Club Songs chart, and he has remixed such ...
.
Dear announced his remix on his SoundCloud account in early July. A remix by Australian duo
Cut Snake was made available on Minogue's SoundCloud account as a free giveaway in July 2013.
Reception
"Skirt" was met with mostly positive reviews from music critics, who appreciated Minogue's fresh take on dance music. Sal Cinquemani of ''
Slant Magazine'' found the track "quintessential Kylie" despite its edgy production.
Described it as a "forward-thinking slice of electronic brilliance", Curtis suggested that Minogue is on the cusp of a long-awaited artistic breakthrough. ''
Fact'' magazine offered a mixed review, criticizing the brash production and mid-range synthesizer sounds. ''
Billboard'' magazine picked the Switch remix as the best track on the remix EP, praising the producer for creating a "soft, warm embrace to the original, turning the sexual into the sensual". The magazine also named "Skirt" as one of the "Top 50 Game-Changing EDM Tracks of 2013", ranked at number 36.
Brocklehurst, in his retrospective review, stated the track is among Minogue's most adventurous and overlooked, praising its modern production and chorus.
In contrast, Simon Mills of the ''
Herald Sun'' perceived the track as "cold, camp-free, and unsettling," and noted that the Americanization of Minogue was not entirely successful. Graham Gremore of ''
Queerty'' drew a positive comparison between the track and Minogue's "
Padam Padam
''Padam Padam'' () is a 2011 South Korean television series starring Jung Woo-sung, Han Ji-min, and Kim Bum. The romance / fantasy series was written by Noh Hee-kyung, and the title is a reference to a 1951 French song by Edith Piaf, an onom ...
" (2023), noting how despite being recorded a decade apart, they intriguingly complement each other. Several critics believe that "Skirt" should have been included in ''Kiss Me Once''.
[; ] ''Slant Magazine''s Alexa Camp felt that the absence of "Skirt" was among the biggest disappointments of the album. Brocklehurst commented that the album would have been more interesting if its sonic direction had leaned more into tracks like "Skirt".
''The Tab'' and ''
Classic Pop
Traditional pop (also known as classic pop and pre-rock and roll pop) is Western pop music that generally pre-dates the advent of rock and roll in the mid-1950s. The most popular and enduring songs from this era of music are known as pop standards ...
'' listed "Skirt" among their top Minogue tracks.
"Skirt" peaked atop of US ''Billboard''
Dance Club Songs chart during the week of 14 September, and remained there for one week.
[; ] "Skirt" became Minogue's tenth number one, and her seventh consecutive number one in the Dance Club Songs chart since August 2010 with "
All the Lovers
"All the Lovers" is a song recorded by Australian recording artist Kylie Minogue for her eleventh studio album, ''Aphrodite'' (2010). It was released by Parlophone on 11 June 2010 as the lead single from the album. The song was written by Jim ...
". Overall, it was present on the chart for 13 weeks. "Skirt" spent 10 weeks on the
Hot Dance/Electronic Songs
The Dance/Electronic Songs chart has been published weekly by '' Billboard'' since January 2013. It is the first chart to be published that ranks the most popular dance and electronic songs according to audience impressions, digital downloads, ...
, reaching its peak at number 31 on 24 August.
[; ] By the end of 2013, "Skirt" was ranked number 23 on
''Billboards annual Dance Club Songs chart, and number 75 on the annual Dance/Electronic Songs chart.
Promotion
On 14 June 2013, an accompanying
stop-motion lyric 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 promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...
was published on
Nowness
Nowness (stylized NOWNESS) is a digital video channel that was launched in 2010 by its founder Jefferson Hack as a brand of LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE. and
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...
. Directed and photographed by Will Davidson, the video is a series of quick cuts of over 1,000 still photos of Minogue seductively posing in a hotel room. During the video, Minogue moves around the floor, arches her back, and stares straight into the camera. She wears a tight-fitting
Alexander Wang black dress and
stilettos. The three-hour shoot took place in Los Angeles a week before its premiere.
Minogue was impressed by Davidson's natural approach, saying: "In 25 years I haven't done anything like this ... They feel real, unprocessed and much like the viewer is there with me."
Curtis praised Davidson for making a "deceptively simple, yet beautiful" video, while
HitFix
HitFix, or HitFix.com, was an entertainment news website that launched in December 2008 specializing in breaking entertainment news, insider information, and reviews and critiques of film, music, and television. In mid-2010 HitFix crossed the 1,00 ...
's Melinda Newman felt that it would "either flip yours up or induce a seizure." A picture from Davidson's photoshoot was used as the remix EP's artwork. A second visual was used as an interlude featurette on Minogue's
Kiss Me Once Tour
The Kiss Me Once Tour was the fourteenth concert tour by Australian singer Kylie Minogue. It was launched in support of her twelfth studio album, '' Kiss Me Once'' (2014) and visited Europe, Australia and Middle East. Rumours of plans to tour ...
. A two-minute video was also included on the live DVD, titled ''
Kiss Me Once Live at the SSE Hydro
''Kiss Me Once Live at the SSE Hydro'' is the seventh live album by Australian singer Kylie Minogue.
Background and release
The show was filmed during her " Kiss Me Once Tour" at the SSE Hydro in Glasgow and directed by William Baker. It was r ...
'', as a bonus feature.
Track listings
*Digital and Europe remix EP
[; ]
#"Skirt" (Main Mix) – 3:29
#"Skirt" (Extended Mix) – 4:47
#"Skirt" (Nom De Strip Dub Mix) – 4:48
#"Skirt" (
GTA Remix) – 5:10
#"Skirt" (
Switch
In electrical engineering, a switch is an electrical component that can disconnect or connect the conducting path in an electrical circuit, interrupting the electric current or diverting it from one conductor to another. The most common type of ...
Remix) – 5:33
#"Skirt" (Hot Mouth Remix) – 4:43
*UK remix EP
#"Skirt" (Main Mix) – 3:29
#"Skirt" (Extended Mix) – 4:47
#"Skirt" (Nom De Strip Extended) – 6:07
#"Skirt" (Nom De Strip Mix Show) – 4:49
#"Skirt" (Nom De Strip Dub) – 4:50
#"Skirt" (
Matthew Dear
Matthew Dear (born April 4, 1979) is an American electronic music producer and DJ.
History
Texas-born Dear moved to Michigan as a teenager, where he was inspired by the sound of Detroit Techno. Dear met Sam Valenti IV at a party while attendin ...
Remix) – 5:16
#"Skirt" (Stop Me Shake Me Remix) – 5:16
#"Skirt" (Switch Remix) – 5:33
#"Skirt" (Hot Mouth Remix) – 4:43
#"Skirt" (GTA Remix) – 5:10
#"Skirt" (K & NDS Remix) – 3:30
*Chinese remix EP
#"Skirt" (Main Mix) – 3:29
#"Skirt" (Extended Mix) – 4:47
#"Skirt" (Nom De Strip Dub Mix) – 4:48
#"Skirt" (GTA Remix) – 5:10
#"Skirt" (Switch Remix) – 5:33
#"Skirt" (Hot Mouth Remix) – 4:43
#"Skirt" (George M Dub Bootleg Mix) – 7:07
#"Skirt" (Official Extended Mix) – 4:47
#"Skirt" (Remastered) – 3:30
#"Skirt" (Richie Bardot Dub) – 5:22
#"Skirt" (Stopme Shake Mix) – 5:15
Personnel
Credits are adapted from the
American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers.
*
Kylie Minogue vocals, songwriting
*Chris Elliot songwriting, production
* Marco Lys production
*
Chris Lake
Chris Lake (born 8 August 1982) is a British electronic music producer and DJ. He rose to fame in 2006 with his hit single, "Changes", featuring Laura V.
Musical career
Lake first became recognized for his bootleg remixes of the Prodigy's "Cli ...
songwriting
*
Terius "The Dream" Nash songwriting, background vocals
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end chart
Release history
See also
*
List of ''Billboard'' Dance Club Songs number ones of 2013
Notes
References
Citations
Websites and print sources
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Media notes
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External links
"Skirt" lyricson ''Kylie.com'' (archive from 2013)
*
{{Authority control
2013 singles
2013 songs
Kylie Minogue songs
Songs written by Kylie Minogue
Songs written by The-Dream
Songs about casual sex