GIRLS ALOUD | Wake Me Up

Available on:
x Girls Aloud - What Will The Neighbours Say? (2004) CD
x Girls Aloud - Wake Me Up (2005) CD-S, 7'' picture disc

Credits:
Written by Miranda Cooper, Brian Higgins, Tim Powell, Shawn Lee, Lisa Cowling, Paul Woods, Ysrua Marue.
Published by Xenomania/ Warner Chapell.
Produced by Brian Higgins and Xenomania.
Mixed by Tim Powell & Matt Tait.
Keyboards: Brian Higgins and Tim Powell.
Programmed by Tim Powell.
Guitar: Shawn Lee.

Single information:
"Wake Me Up" was the 4th single released from What Will The Neighbours Say?, on 21st February, 2005. It was the first Girls Aloud single to miss the Top 3 in the UK Singles Chart.
Peak position: #4 (UK charts)

Notes:
Alex Kapranos, the lead singer of Franz Ferdinand praised the track, said that "Wake Me Up" inspired the band to work with Brian Higgins:
"We've been interested in Brian for years. His production of Girls Aloud's Wake Me Up first caught my attention. I remember thinking: 'What the hell is that? It's amazing'. There was something about their sound which was immediate but dangerous - rare in a girl group. It was really edgy."

The first verse of the song was done on the last day of recording of the second album. Five studios had been set up: in each was a list of bots of songs requiring completion and one was this song's first verse. Kimberley's 'dressed up and put on my make up' part was considered a pivotal point of the recording process.

The original version of the song, which has a different first verse, was released on the special edition of The Sound of Girls Aloud: The Greatest Hits.

REVIEWS:
x Wake Me Up veers Girls Aloud back into the realms of brash, kitschy electro-pop where they seem so at home. We'd be lying if we claimed there was anything particularly sophisticated about this - a big dumb riff, daft lyrics and lumpy beats are hardly the stuff of pop perfection (well, not in this case at any rate). But it's all delivered with enough knowing flirtiness and bouncy gusto to make you ignore that inner critic and just enjoy these three minutes of throwaway fun. Virgin.net

x A year out from its release on an album, and about 10 months out from it being a single, it has started to make a bit more sense, particularly in light of what appeared on Chemistry, and also Sugababes' Red Dress, where overdriven, thrashing guitars are just another way for Brian Higgins to foist his particular texture of pop on us. The man knows how to generate a good throb, be it by the use of club alarms, brash Britpop guitars, wavering synth lines or even the vocals of a pretty girl or five. And, of course, it is remiss to discuss a Girls Aloud single without raving about Miranda Cooper's aggressive, but coy, sweet, yet sour and always witty lyrics, seemingly with an ear to what kids on the playground will get told off for due to naughtiness - risque, but still appealing to the younger ear. (...) Guitars blare around your ears the way a room spins around your eyes as you lunge towards where you put your drink down before your last attempt to pull failed miserably, and its abrasiveness is as comforting as an arm around you as you lean over the toilet to purge your wicked soul. Edward Oculicz

x Wake Me Up is thankfully an about-turn from the charitable slush-fest that was the misjudged cover version of I'll Stand By You and sees them back to their magnificently feisty best. Reunited with master songwriting team Xenomania, this throws in weird electro noises, garage rock guitar riffs and still manages to maintain the pop sensibility that the girls do so well.
It sounds like the soundtrack to the greatest night out ever to which only the lucky few are privileged to have an invite, and is more proof that, however much chin stroking muso's would attempt to convince you otherwise, Girls Aloud are actually very good indeed. John Murphy

LINKS:
x video on YouTube
x Wikipedia page