"Lately" is the debut solo single of Welsh singer-songwriter

Lisa Scott-Lee Lisa Scott-Lee (born 5 November 1975) is a British singer from St Asaph, Wales. She is a member of the pop group Steps, formed in 1997. Scott-Lee signed a record deal with Mercury Records and launched a solo career in 2003, achieving only min ...

. It was released after the split of pop group Steps, of which Scott-Lee was a member. It was released on 12 May 2003 by

Fontana Records Fontana Records is a record label that started in the 1950s as a subsidiary of the Dutch Philips Records. Fontana Distribution, an independent label distributor, takes its name from the label. History Fontana began in the 1950s as a subsidi ...

and was written by Scott-Lee and

Point4 Point4 was a quartet formed in 2001 and composed of Pete Day, Phil Dyson, Paul (Bronze) Newton, and Daniel Sherman. Paul and Daniel were introduced by their accountant as prolific songwriters and the team’s first collaboration was ‘The Firs ...

. The single peaked at number six on the UK Singles Chart, reached number 24 on the

Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is the Republic of Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA) and compiled on their behalf by the Official Charts Company. Chart rankings are ...

, and also charted in the Netherlands and Switzerland. To date, it is Scott-Lee's only single to reach the top 10 in the United Kingdom.

Background and composition

Promoting the single Lisa Scott-Lee in an interview with Toazted stated, "Lately was one of the first songs I wrote after Steps when I wanted to go solo and I was very determined to get a record deal so I wanted to write, you know a really good song so that I could go round to different record companies and it was a very exciting time for me because my thinking of solo made me feel very nervous but I was excited and I.. you know when you get butterflies in your stomach? So I took that feeling and put it into a song. Lately is about when you meet somebody for the first time whether it's a boy or a girl and maybe you fancy each other and you get butterflies in your stomach and that's what Lately is about".

Release and promotion

After Scott-Lee managed the band 3SL, consisting of her three brothers including

Andy Scott-Lee Andy Scott-Lee (born Robert Andrew Jason Scott-Lee; 29 March 1980) is a British singer from Rhyl, Wales. He is the brother of Steps singer Lisa Scott-Lee. Career Music Scott-Lee was a member of the group 3SL, who had UK top 20 singles with " ...

who enjoyed very limited success, she collaborated with

, (Peter Day, Phil Dyson, Paul (Bronze) Newton, and Daniel Sherman) to write and produce eight songs together including "Lately", " Too Far Gone" and "I'll Wait for You", which was included on her debut album ''Never or Now''. After Scott-Lee signed a record deal with

, "Lately" was chosen to be released 12 May 2003. Scott-Lee performed the track on two appearances on ''

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British record chart television programme, made by the BBC and broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show. For most of its histo ...

'', notably singing the song live on both occasions. She also performed the song on CD:UK. When Steps re-formed in 2011 and announced they would go on tour during Spring in 2012, Lisa performed a medley as her solo featuring

Heaven Heaven, or the Heavens, is a common Religious cosmology, religious cosmological or supernatural place where beings such as deity, deities, angels, souls, saints, or Veneration of the dead, venerated ancestors are said to originate, be throne, ...

, Beautiful People and Lately.

Chart performance

"Lately" debuted at number six in the United Kingdom on 24 May 2003, but it quickly fell out of the top ten, appearing at number 14. It spent two weeks in the top 20 and five weeks in the top 40 before leaving the top 100.

Music video

The music video for "Lately" begins with some dark shots of Scott-Lee's body under a red shade of light with neon lights behind her as she looks into the camera whilst wearing a ribboned white outfit. She plays up to computer generated camera's which gets close ups of her dancing that is shown on a TV screen in front on a couple lusting on a couch and a couple in a car. There are shots of her in a revealing brown outfit (that she wears for the single art) with flashing lights behind her as she sings into a glowing hanging microphone. After the first chorus the males get distracted by Scott-Lee on the TV screens as she is getting their attention away from the girls they are with. After the second chorus she is in a different outfit that is black with silver chains around her waist with flashing lights behind her singing the bridge of the song. The video does not have a set dance routine or any dancers although Scott-Lee dances up to the cameras through the video and it is very different from anything that she has done in Steps.

Track listings

UK CD single # "Lately" (radio edit) # "Lately" (Stella Browne remix) # "Lately" (Soda Club radio edit) # "Lately" (56k mix) # "Lately" (video) UK cassette single # "Lately" (radio edit) # "Lately" (Stella Browne remix) # "Lately" (Soda Club radio edit) # "Lately" (56k mix) European CD single # "Lately" (radio edit) # "Lately" (Stella Browne remix radio edit) # "Lately" (video) Australian CD single # "Lately" (radio edit) # "Lately" (Stella Browne remix) # "Lately" (Soda Club radio edit) # "I'm Burning" # "Lately" (video)

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Release history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lately (Lisa Scott-Lee Song) 2003 songs 2003 debut singles Lisa Scott-Lee songs Fontana Records singles