Little Mix – Secret Love Song

“It’s a builder.”

Tom: It’s a builder.

Tom: “What exotic location are we going to film the new video in?” “That office block next to Tower Bridge.” “Oh.”

Speaking of which, if you’re going to greenscreen Derulo’s prison window — there’s no way an apartment looks like that — at least make it vaguely geographically accurate. Don’t just paste the London Eye in next to Tower Bridge, for crying out loud.

Tim: What’s even weirder is the angle they’ve got the bridge filmed at, making it look as though he’s in some magically floating brick structure right in the middle of the river.

Tom: All of this talk about the video is basically covering for the fact that, while this song should really be everything I like in Big Emotional Pop, most of it leaves me a bit cold. The autotune’s too strong, the middle eight’s poor, and those emotional, quavering notes just sound like they’re trying a bit too hard. The first few lines of the chorus? Great. The rest? Not so much.

Tim: Hmm. It doesn’t help that there are multiple points in there where I want to segue into Love The Way You Lie – tell me you don’t find yourself thinking “just wanna stand there and watch you burn” 26 seconds in – which immediately provides a comparison where this one definitively loses. Regardless, I won’t be as harsh on it as you, because I like all of the chorus, and I’m happy with the big notes. You’re very definitely right about the autotune, though.