Real Girl

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Real Girl
Real Girl cover
Studio album by Mutya Buena
Released June 4, 2007 (2007-06-04)
Recorded 2006 - 2007
Genre Pop, R&B, soul, dance
Length 51:17
Label Island
Producer Eg White, Matt Ward, Dean Gillard, Groove Armada, Jony Rockstar, Felix Howard, Guz Lally, Guy Sigsworth, Salaam Remi, Johnny Douglas, Wayne Wilkins, RedEye
Professional reviews

2008[1](United States)

Real Girl is the debut solo album by Mutya Buena released on 4 June 2007. After leaving the Sugababes, Buena signed with her previous label Universal Records, specifically the recently resurrected label 4th & Broadway. However, it's her first and last album with 4th & Broadway/Universal Records, because she was recently dropped from the label.

Contents

[edit] Overview

The album includes collaborations with some of the biggest names in music, including dance duo Groove Armada, popsinger George Michael, and Brit Award winner Amy Winehouse, whose duet with Mutya samples The Ronettes' "Be My Baby". A Cosmopolitan interview later revealed that the first single was "Real Girl", which was digitally released on the 14 May, and physically on 28 May 2007. The single is produced by Full Phatt, a London-based production company. The second single has recently been confirmed as "Song 4 Mutya (Out Of Control)" and will coincide with the release from Groove Armada. With the release of the second single in Australia, the album rose up the chart ten places to #11.

The video for "Real Girl" is on her official website [2], along with clips of the new songs "Just A Little Bit", "Strung Out", and "Wonderful".

The album is being released in Japan in August (according to www.hmv.co.jp) and includes the standard 13 tracks PLUS 2 bonus remixes of "Real Girl".

The title song, Real Girl, is mainly based on a sample of Lenny Kravitz' "It Ain't Over 'Til It's Over" [2].

The first single taken from the album was "Real Girl", and was a massive-hit in the United Kingdom peaking at #2 on the UK Top 75, and did quite well on the European charts. However, the album only peaked at #10 on the UK Albums Chart, staying over one month inside the UK Top 100, and selling only 60,000 copies, becoming a commercial failure. Next single released was a Groove Armada's song, and featured Mutya's vocals. The single peaked at #8 on the UK Singles Charts, and had moderate success in the rest of the world. "Just a Little Bit" was chosen to be the third single, and was released in late-October in the United Kingdom. It was a commercial failure, due to the poor promotion it received, and it peaked outside the UK Top 50, at #65. The fourth single was "B Boy Baby", and features Amy Winehouse, and was released in late-December, two weeks after Sugababes releases their single "Change", the single was released only via her official website and so underperformed in the charts peaking at #73 on the UK Singles Chart.

It is due to the commercial failure of the singles and the album in the UK that in February 2008 Mutya Buena was dropped by her label Universal Music group.[3]

As of February 2008 the album has sold 100,000 copies in the UK

[edit] Track listing

# Title Time
1. "Just A Little Bit"
Writers: E. White, P. Sheyne
Producer: Eg White		 3:17
2. "Real Girl"
Writers: L. Kravitz, N. Scarlett, M. Ward, D. Gillard
Producers: Matt Ward, Dean Gillard		 3:29
3. "Song 4 Mutya (Out Of Control)" (with Groove Armada)
Writers: Groove Armada, K. Poole, M. Buena, T. Hutton
Producers: Tom Findlay, Andy Cato, Dave Kutch		 3:30
4. "Breakdown Motel"
Writers: C. Dodds, J. Dollar
Producer: Craigie		 4:20
5. "Strung Out"
Writers: P. Kirtley, T. Hawes, O. Mhondera, M. Buena
Producer: Jony Rockstar		 4:20
6. "It's Not Easy"
Writers: M. Buena, F. Howard, S. Frank, P. Simm
Producer: Felix Howard, Paul Simm, Sam Frank		 4:32
7. "Suffer For Love"
Writers: A. Tennant, G. Lally, M. Buena, L. Simon, L. Brownlee, G. Redmond
Producer: Guz Lally		 3:27
8. "Not Your Baby"
Writers: M. Buena, M. Ward, D. Gillard
Producers: Matt Ward, Dean Gillard		 3:29
9. "Wonderful"
Writers: J. Thompson, G. Roudette-Muschamp
Producer: Guy Sigsworth		 3:07
10. "B Boy Baby"
Background vocals: Amy Winehouse
Writers: P. Spector, E. Greenwich, J. Barry, A. Hunte		 3:53
11. "This Is Not (Real Love)" (duet with George Michael)
Writers: G. Michael, J. Jackman, R. Cushnan
Producers: George Michael, James Jackman, Ruadhri Cushnan		 5:58
12. "Paperbag" (UK Bonus Track)
Writers: J. Douglas, N. Woodward, M. Buena		 4:18
13. "My Song"
Writers: J. Thompson, G. Roudette-Muschamp, W. Wilkins
Producers: Wayne Wilkins, Redeye		 3:36

[edit] Leftover Tracks

Whilst Mutya was recording Real Girl, she updated fans with the latest news and premiered demo versions of songs she had recorded on her official MySpace page. Some of the songs that she uploaded or that were registered as being written, but were not used for the album, include:

  • Addiction
  • Blind Date Mutya Buena, Cassius Henry, Guz Lally, Ali Tennant
  • Call Back, Or Drop Dead
  • Darkside
  • Hollow Pete Martin, Tom Nichols
  • I'm Just Me
  • If We're Ever Gonna Be
  • My Love Story Mutya Buena, Greg Kurstin
  • Not A Love Song
  • Sunshine
  • To The Limit Mutya Buena, Guz Lally, Ali Tennant
  • Wannabe
  • Whatever Mutya Buena, Guz Lally, Ali Tennant

[edit] Official Singles

[edit] Other Singles

[edit] Charts (2007)

Country Date Position Copies Sold Certification
United Kingdom June 10, 2007 #10 100,000+ Gold[4]

[edit] Release details

Country Date Label Format Catalog
United Kingdom 2007-06-04 Island Records CD 1734610
Australia 2007-07-09 Island Records CD 0602517346109
Poland 2007-06-20 Universal Music CD 0602517364332

[edit] References

  1. ^ ®R&R :: Going For Adds™ :: CHR/Top 40
  2. ^ Popjustice
  3. ^ Popjustice
  4. ^ www.mutyamusic.com

^ http://popjustice.com/

^ http://www.mutyamusic.com

^ http://mediaweb.musicradio.com/player/default.asp?s=14&e=19563 (An interview on the radio in which Amelle Berrabah states she wrote 'Strung Out')

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Mutya Buena
Studio albums
Real Girl (2007)  · TBA (2008)
Singles
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