Format Digital download Genre R&B Label Epic
Syco | Recorded 2016 Length 3:24 | |
Released September 27, 2016 (2016-09-27) | ||
"That's My Girl" is a song recorded by American girl group Fifth Harmony. It was released on September 27, 2016, as the third and final single from the group's second studio album, 7/27 (2016). The song was written by Tinashe Kachingwe, Alexander Kronlund, and Lukas Loules, with the production being handled by Kronlund and Loules. A remixes EP was released in December 2016. It was the last single released by the group to include former member Camila Cabello before her departure in December 2016.
Contents
Composition
"That's My Girl" has a length for three minutes and twenty-four seconds. The song was co-written by R&B singer Tinashe, Alexander Kronlund and Lukas Loules and produced by Kronlund and Loules. It is in the key of F minor, and written in common time with a moderate tempo of 100 beats per minute. Lyrically the song expresses a message of female empowerment. Its instrumentation includes "brassy horns, heavy bass, and an electronic drumroll". The song opens with member Ally Brooke singing the first verse: "Who's been working so damn hard?/ You got that head on overload," before praising "that flawless body", accompanied by horn samples. Normani rap-sings in the bridge: "Destiny said it, you got to get up and get it/Get mad independent, don't you ever forget it."
Critical reception
While reviewing the album 7/27, Christopher R. Weingarten from Rolling Stone wrote "there's nothing here as good as 2014's "Boss" but "That's My Girl" bites its honking horns just fine and delivers a booming addendum to its empowering message". Digital Spy‘s Lewis Corner wrote, "That's My Girl' is basically the bolder, more fierce cousin of 'Worth It' with its strutting brass and a chorus powerful enough to launch a NASA mission.
Synopsis
The music video was directed by Hannah Lux Davis and was released on September 19, 2016. The video begins with hurt people and helicopters flying around of a ruined town, the group starts singing in solo shots in an all black ensemble in front of a lit rock wall following of the scene where the group walk to the ruined town in a post-apocalyptic world dressing white clothes holding, initially, white flags, where they dance through the streets singing the song's empowering lyrics and saving the affected people. The video follow showing the member Dinah singing the second verse with a red light on the background walking into the aching bathroom where the camera change to Ally singing her verse and follow with Camila and Lauren singing together: "You've been down before, you've been hurt before, you've got up before, you be good to go." Then, the group is showing dancing singing the chorus with red flags. In the third bridge, they forms a circle around a red power that explodes forming the number five, the follow scene show the group dancing in the ruined town at night with a light on the background, the music video end showing the town in former of 5, referring to the own group.
Reception
Several critics noted the influence of the movie Mad Max in the video conception, Sasha Geffen from MTV call the group of "Queen of Post-Apocalypse" and noted that "their outfits look like they could have been pulled from the Mad Max: Fury Road wardrobe, though there are no War Boys to be spotted in the desert landscape. Girls rule this post-apocalypse — maybe it’s a sequel." Entertainment Weekly's Nolan Feeney wrote that "the quintent played sexy emergency workers in a Hunger Games-esque dystopian society that’s been rocked by catastrophe." Michele Lulli of Bustle gave a positive review for the video writing that "the fact that the group chose to make everything from the music video's set design to their choreography a reflection of confidence and badassery is everything. And the fact that they gave it some dystopian franchise flavor only makes me love this song and music video even more." The writer compare the video with a variety of movies that show female characters in main position.
Other versions
An alternate music video was released on September 28, 2016, and features scenes from the web series DC Super Hero Girls and the movie, DC Super Hero Girls: Hero of the Year. The song was also featured in a music video for the U.S. Women's Gymnastic team for the Rio 2016 Olympics. In the video, each member of Fifth Harmony appears individually against a brightly lit backdrop. The group's members sings the song between clips of the U.S. gymnasts.
Live performances
The group performed the song for the first time as the opening song for the North American leg of The 7/27 Tour. The group performed the song for the first time on television at the American Music Awards on November 20, 2016 with a "post a apocalyptic" set. According to editor Andrew Unterberger from Billboard, it was the fourth best performance of the night. The X Factor (UK) series 13 contestant Gifty Louise performed a cover version of the song during the live week one, which received the favour and praise of all four judges. The song was also performed as a part of the groups segment for Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve.