"Skinny Genes" is a song performed by British recording artist

Eliza Doolittle Eliza Doolittle is a fictional character and the protagonist in George Bernard Shaw's play '' Pygmalion'' (1913) and its 1956 musical adaptation, ''My Fair Lady''. Eliza (from Lisson Grove, London) is a Cockney flower seller, who comes to Prof ...

. The song serves as her debut single and first single from her debut album, ''

''. The track was co-written by Doolittle in collaboration with Tim Woodcock and the song's producer Matthew Prime. "Skinny Genes" was one of three tracks where Doolittle had worked with Prime and Woodcock for her debut album. The single was officially released on 11 April 2010 by

Parlophone Records Parlophone Records Limited (also known as Parlophone Records and Parlophone) is a record label founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company as Parlophon. The British branch of the label was founded on 8 August 1923 as the Parloph ...

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-only format, accompanied by a

b-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

entitled "Police Car" (written by Doolittle and Craigie Dodds''

'' liner notes

(2010)). The track is inspired by love-hate relationships and contains prominent

indie pop Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with a DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and s ...

musical characteristics. Lyrically, "Skinny Genes" refers from a feminist point of view to how one can dislike all the personality traits of a partner but still enjoy the sexual chemistry one shares with them. "Skinny Genes" garnered a positive response from contemporary music critics. The song also achieved mainstream success; debuting and peaking at number twenty-two on the UK Singles Chart. The song was accompanied by a 70s and 80s-styled

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

directed by Daniel Eskills and released on 25 December 2009. Doolittle performed the single live at

London Fashion Week London Fashion Week (LFW) is a clothing trade show that takes place in London, England, twice a year, in June and September. Showcasing over 250 designers to a global audience of influential media and retailers, it is one of the 'Big Four' fash ...

and on the British television stations

GMTV GMTV (an initialism for Good Morning Television), now legally known as ''ITV Breakfast, ITV Breakfast Broadcasting Limited'', was the name of the national ITV (TV network), ITV breakfast television contractor/licensee, broadcasting in the Uni ...

and STV. "Skinny Genes" featured in an advert for

Very Very may refer to: * English's prevailing intensifier Businesses * The Very Group The Very Group Limited is a multi-brand online retailer and financial services provider in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Its head offices are based in the ...

featuring

Fearne Cotton Fearne Cotton (born 3 September 1981) is an English broadcaster and author. She began her career in the late 1990s as a children’s television presenter for GMTV, CITV and CBBC. She went on to present various television shows, including ''To ...

and

Holly Willoughby Holly Marie Willoughby ( ; born 10 February 1981) is an English television presenter, author and model. She has presented various television shows for ITV, most notably '' This Morning'' (2009–2023) and '' Dancing on Ice'' (2006–2011, 201 ...

. "Skinny Genes" was later re-released on 27 December 2010. A new video was made from the re-release. The track went on to make

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...

's A-Playlist in the UK in late 2010. "Skinny Genes" is written in the key of

E major E major is a major scale based on E, consisting of the pitches E, F, G, A, B, C, and D. Its key signature has four sharps. Its relative minor is C-sharp minor and its parallel minor is E minor. Its enharmonic equivalent, F-flat maj ...

and follows the chord progression E major, F♯ minor, and B major.

Background

"Skinny Genes" was the first single from ''

'', Doolittle's debut album. Before its official release, "Rollerblades" was originally speculated to be Doolittle's debut single. "Skinny Genes" was later confirmed as her official debut single and was originally planned for release on 29 March 2010. It was then pushed back for release on 5 April. The single was finally pushed back another week and officially released on 11 April 2010 on

format only. A planned

CD single A CD single is a single (music), music single in the form of a compact disc (CD). Originally the ''CD single'' standard (as defined in the Rainbow Books, Red Book) was an 8 cm (3-inch) "mini CD" (''CD3''); later on the term referred to any si ...

release for "Skinny Genes" on 12 April 2010 failed to surface. Note: Use search function for non-existent "Skinny Genes" CD "Skinny Genes" was mischievously inspired lyrically by an irritating but sexy boy. Doolittle described the song as having very light and happy but thoughtful lyrics, saying: "I think about what I want to say, when I write songs." Leonie Cooper of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' described the song as having "tell-it-like-it-is-lyrics". Doolittle explained "Skinny Genes" to

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927. The service provides national radio stations cove ...

Steve Lamacq Stephen Paul Lamacq (born 16 October 1964), sometimes known by his nickname Lammo (given to him by John Peel), is an English disc jockey, currently working with BBC Radio 6 Music. Lamacq was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire ( ...

The single is something I made up in my head. I just thought it would be quite a funny scenario where you didn't like someone, if they were really annoying, but you had a good time under the sheets.

Track listing

*Digital single #"Skinny Genes" – 3:03 #"Skinny Genes" (Slugz & Joe London Mix) – 5:31 #"Police Car" – 3:21 *The Remixes Promo #"Skinny Genes" (Acid Washed Radio Edit) – 3:31 #"Skinny Genes" (Acid Washed Main Mix) – 4:14 #"Skinny Genes" (Acid Washed Dub Remix) – 4:42 #"Skinny Genes" (Melé Remix) – 5:36 #"Skinny Genes" (Slugz & Joe London Mix) – 5:31 *Re-release digital download #1 #"Skinny Genes" – 3:05 *Re-release digital download #2 #"Skinny Genes" – 3:05 #"Skinny Genes" (music video) ''(second version)'' - 3:03

Charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{Authority control 2010 songs 2010 debut singles Eliza Doolittle (singer) songs Parlophone singles Songs written by Matt Prime Songs written by Tim Woodcock Songs written by Eliza Doolittle (singer) Songs with feminist themes