Up (The Saturdays Song)

"Up" is a song by British-Irish recording girl group The Saturdays from their debut studio album, ''Chasing Lights (2008)''. It was co-written by the track's producers, Josef Larossi and Andreas Romdhane of Quiz & Larossi, in collaboration with Ina Wroldsen. "Up" was first released by Fascination and Polydor Records on 13 October 2008 as the second single from ''Chasing Lights''. It was accompanied by a B-side entitled "Crashing Down"; originally recorded by the Nolans in 1982, and written by Benjamin Findon, Robert Puzey and Mike Myers, and produced by Jewels & Store. The Saturdays previously collaborated with Ina Wroldsen for their debut single "If This Is Love", as well as on six other tracks chosen for the album. Future singles including Ego, also came from collaboration with Ina Wroldsen and Rhys Barker. The song is upbeat and, has prominent pop and electropop genre characteristics. It contains lyrical influences from feelings of feminism and self-confidence in a personal relationship with your lover.

"Up" received mainly positive reviews from contemporary music critics. On 19 October 2008 it debuted at number five on the UK Singles Chart with sales of 26,593 in its first week of release. It became the group's second consecutive top ten hit in the United Kingdom and was certified Silver by the British Phonographic Industry. It was The Saturdays' best-selling single at that time, with sales of over 311,000 copies in the United Kingdom alone. The single became the group's first chart hit in Ireland where it peaked at number eleven, it also reached number 15 on the European Hot 100 Singles chart.

"Up" was accompanied by a music video that was directed by Harvey B. Brown and released on 2 September 2008. The video features the group performing dance routines in their signature-coloured dress code and jumping from large pillars. The Saturdays performed the song as part of their setlist for their tour, The Work Tour. It was also performed by the group on various television programmes, including: Kids Choice Awards, ''Sound'' and ''Everybody Loves Lil' Chris''.

Popjustice ranked "Up" as the eighth best single of 2008 in its list of 'The Top 104 Singles of 2008'.
The song was also used to back television advertisements and trailers for popular American television series, ''Ugly Betty''.

Background

The first studio version of "Up" premiered on Popjustice on 17 July 2008 in the form of a short clip, after the group previously performed the song, when it was being recorded, live at various gigs in the United Kingdom. The song then officially premiered in full on 31 August 2008 on BBC Radio 1.

"Up" was co-written by Josef Larossi and Andreas Romdhane of Quiz & Larossi, in collaboration with Ina Wroldsen.''Chasing Lights'' (CD liner notes). Fascination Records. 2010-05-30. The song was produced by Swedish musicians Quiz & Larossi, with additional production done by Jeremy Wheatley. Additional programming and keyboards were by Fiasco. Quiz & Larossi also contributed to the track's keyboard, drum instrumentation and programming. The song was mixed by Jeremy Wheatley with the assistance of Richard Edgeler. The vocals performed by The Saturdays were recorded by Ina Wroldsen, engineered by Graham Archer and mastered by Dick Beetham.

"Up" is an upbeat pop and electropop song. Its style has also been described as "electro-tinged" and "robotic disco-pop". The song has a fun and anthemic feel to it. It is 4 minutes and 4 seconds in length. The track also contains prominent siren sound effects which have been likened to the sound of Mis-Teeq's 2003 song " Scandalous". The backing is synthesised on one note throughout the whole song. Written in the key of A minor the beat of the song is set in 6/8 and progresses at an uptempo 126 beats per minute. The chorus follows an Am–F–Dm–E chord progression.

Una Healy sings both the first and second verse. While Vanessa White sings the 2 bridges, middle 8 and leads the chorus. Rochelle Wiseman sings backing vocal in White's second bridge. Healy and Wiseman take lower harmonies in the chorus while Mollie King and Frankie Sandford who don't sing solos in the song, both take higher harmonies.

"Up" contains several travelling-themed lyrical lines which act as a metaphorical way of taking a relationship to the next level. It is descriptively influenced by feelings of feminism and self-confidence of a woman involved in a relationship that is not going anywhere. The lyrics have been interpreted by music critics to not make sense.

Critical reception

"Up" received mainly positive reviews from contemporary music critics. It also received comparisons to music released by Girls Aloud, Mis-Teeq, Rihanna and Liberty X. The single was also described by the majority of music critics as a better song than the group's first single "If This Is Love".

Jamie Harper of musicOMH gave "Up" a mainly negative review: " ..the verse to 'Up' sounds disturbingly like someone's pressed the 'demo' button on a keyboard. The result makes them sound like Liberty X's ..younger sister. Elsewhere expect the standard pop formulas such as lyrics that don't really make sense, verse-chorus-verse-chorus song structure, and some actually quite nice vocal melodies."

Nick Levine from Digital Spy positively reviewed the song, saying: " ..this quivering electropop track sounds like a smash, boasting a memorable chorus, sharp, modern production and the best use of sirens in a pop song since Mis-Teeq's 'Scandalous'. Up is where they go from here indeed." Elle J. Small of the ''BBC
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