"M.I.A" is a song by English singer

Cher Lloyd Cher Lloyd (born 28 July 1993) is an English singer. She participated on the The X Factor (UK series 7), seventh series of the television talent show ''The X Factor (UK TV series), The X Factor'' in 2010, where she finished in fourth place. F ...

. Released on 11 October 2019, under Universal Music Group, the song marked her first solo release following her comeback " None Of My Business" in October 2018. An accompanying video directed by Raja Virdi was premiered on YouTube on the day of the song's release.

Background and promotion

Lloyd began teasing the song on 3 October 2019 by posting cryptic images of the acronym on her social media spelling out the title. In an interview with Euphoria, Lloyd stated that "the whole concept behind that song was being at a party that you really really don't want to be at, but you want to be with that person and you'd rather be anywhere else if it means that you get to be with that person". Lloyd embarked on a week-long radio tour in the UK from 10–17 November 2019, where she did acoustic sessions and interviews in promotion of the song. In terms of live performances, she performed the song live once at the German TV show ''

ZDF-Fernsehgarten ''ZDF-Fernsehgarten'' (English: ''ZDF Television garden'') is a German entertainment TV show broadcast live from the grounds of the ZDF broadcasting centre at Mainz. It is a seasonal live programme which airs only during the summer months with 16 ...

'' on 13 October 2019. The song failed to achieve much chart success at all due to poor promotion, however it did spend 4 weeks on Ultratop Wallonia under top 50 chart.

Critical reception

Lilly Pace of ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' stated "The infectious new song recounts the singer's time at a bad party, where she asks someone she has her eye on to run away with her." Writing for ''

Idolator An idolator is a practitioner of idolatry. Idolator or Idolater may also refer to: * Idolator (website), an American music blog * ''Idolator'' (album), a 2005 album by Blood Stain Child * ''Idolator'', a 1986 album by Ole Evenrud * "Idolater", a ...

'' Mike Neid stated: "'M.I.A', loyd'slatest is a bright anthem that finds her convincing a potential partner to leave a party. And she makes a damn good case. 'Let's make a quick getaway. This party's shit anyway. Or we could go M.I.A.'"

Music video

The official video to the single premiered on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

the day of the song's release. It was shot at the

Barbican Estate The Barbican Estate, or Barbican, is a residential complex of around 2,000 flats, Apartment#Maisonette, maisonettes and houses in central London, England, within the City of London. It is in an area once devastated by World War II bombings an ...

. The music video depicts Lloyd performing choreography with backup dancers on different settings of the

Barbican A barbican (from ) is a fortified outpost or fortified gateway, such as at an outer defense perimeter of a city or castle, or any tower situated over a gate or bridge which was used for defensive purposes. Europe Medieval Europeans typically b ...

. The video was produced by Phase Films and directed by Raja Virdi. In an interview with

, Cher stated "This song is a mood, it's about capturing a feeling. I wanted the video to mirror exactly that. I wanted the vibe to feel playful, expressive, and fun. Every look gives a great insight into who I am and my personality."

Track listing

Digital download / streaming # "M.I.A" - 2:37 Digital download / streaming (Cahill Edit) # "M.I.A" (Cahill Edit) - 3:00

Personnel

Credits adapted from

YouTube Music YouTube Music is a music streaming service developed by the American video platform YouTube, a subsidiary of Google. The service is designed with an interface that allows users to simultaneously explore music audios and music videos from YouTu ...

. *

– vocals, songwriting * Joznez – production, studio personnel, mixing * Nico The Owl – Production * Dave Kutch – studio personnel, mastering engineer * Lex Barkey – studio personnel, mixing * Jeremia Jones – songwriter * Gia Koka – songwriter * Morien van der Tang – songwriter *

Stevie Appleton Stephen Appleton (born in Surrey, England) is a British singer, songwriter and producer. At the age of fifteen, Appleton began playing piano in a Soho restaurant improvising jazz and playing covers from the likes of Elton John and Billy Joe ...

– songwriter

Release history

References

{{authority control 2019 singles 2019 songs Cher Lloyd songs