"Vacation" is the debut single recorded by American-British-Canadian

girl group A girl group is a music act featuring two or more women in music, female singers who generally vocal harmony, harmonize together. The term "girl group" is also used in a narrower sense in the United States to denote the wave of American female p ...

G.R.L. The song was written by

Bonnie McKee Bonnie Leigh McKee (born January 20, 1984) is an American singer and songwriter. Her debut album '' Trouble'' was released in 2004 by Reprise Records. After being dropped, she took a musical hiatus and established herself as a songwriter. She ...

, Lukasz Gottwald,

Max Martin Karl Martin Sandberg (born 26 February 1971),Max Martin
AllMusic known professional ...

, and Henry Walter with production handled by the latter three. "Vacation" is an upbeat breakup song.

Background and composition

Following the disbandment of

The Pussycat Dolls The Pussycat Dolls were an American girl group and dance ensemble, founded in Los Angeles, California, by choreographer Robin Antin in 1995 as a neo-burlesque troupe. At the suggestion of Jimmy Iovine, Antin decided to take the troupe mainstrea ...

in 2010,

Robin Antin Robin Antin is an American dancer and choreographer. In 1995, she founded the modern burlesque troupe the Pussycat Dolls. By 2005, she diversified into various media including a pop recording group with international hits, a Las Vegas nightclub ...

suggested that the group would be "revamped" with new members. After different incarnations of the group Antin along the guidance of manager Larry Rudolph formed the group under a new name, G.R.L. with members:

Lauren Bennett Lauren Diane Bennett (born 24 June 1989) is an English singer. She is known for being a member of the American girl group G.R.L. Bennett has also worked with the Paradiso Girls, CeeLo Green, Robin Antin, The Pussycat Dolls, and LMFAO. She was ...

, Paula Van Oppen, Natasha Slayton, Simone Battle, and Emmalyn Estrada. Bennett was the first cast as a member for group with members being added gradually over the next year and a half. The group was officially unveiled at

Chateau Marmont The Chateau Marmont is a hotel located at 8221 Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, California. The hotel was designed by architects Arnold A. Weitzman and William Douglas Lee and completed in 1929. It was modeled loosely after the Château d'Ambois ...

in April. On June 16, "Vacation" temporarily bundled and available for free as 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 ...

Britney Spears Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer. Often referred to as the "Princess of Pop", she has sold over 150 million records worldwide, making her one of the world's best-selling music artists. Cultural impact of Brit ...

' " Ooh La La for the soundtrack of ''

The Smurfs 2 ''The Smurfs 2'' is a 2013 American fantasy comedy film loosely based on ''The Smurfs'' comic book series created by the Belgian comics artist Peyo, produced by Columbia Pictures, Sony Pictures Animation, The Kerner Entertainment Company, and ...

''. The song was available for digital download on June 18, 2013 and was sent to

mainstream radio Contemporary hit radio (CHR, also known as contemporary hits, hit list, current hits, hit music, top 40, or pop radio) is a radio format common in many countries that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by the Top ...

on September 3, 2013.

Reception

Jason Lipshutz 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 ...

'' magazine described the song "bubbly." While reviewing the ''Smurfs 2'' soundtrack, Sherman Yang of XIN MSN Entertainment positively reviewed the song describing it as "fun and flirty." He also praised the song for having multiple vocalists and wrote "we can't wait to hear what else the girls have to offer in their upcoming debut album." Popdust's Jacques Peterson gave it a mixed review calling it "insipid and forgettable" to Spears' "Ooh La La". In the United States as of July, the song has sold 2,000 copies, according to

Nielsen SoundScan Luminate Data, LLC (formerly MRC Data and P-MRC Data) is a provider of music and entertainment data. Established as a joint-venture in 2020, it brought together Nielsen Music, Alpha Data (formerly BuzzAngle Music) and Variety Business Intellige ...

. Upon the release of "Ooh La La, "Vacation" debuted at number 97 on the South Korea Gaon International Chart.

Music video

The

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 ...

for "Vacation" was directed by

Hannah Lux Davis Hannah Lux Davis (born May 17, 1986) is an American music video, commercial and film director. She's known for her work especially with female artists, such as Ariana Grande, Katy Perry, Demi Lovato, Nicki Minaj, Miley Cyrus, Avril Lavigne, Christ ...

Spice Girls The Spice Girls are an English girl group formed in 1994, consisting of Mel B ("Scary Spice"), Melanie C ("Sporty Spice"), Emma Bunton ("Baby Spice"), Geri Halliwell ("Ginger Spice"), and Victoria Beckham ("Posh Spice"). They have sold over 10 ...

member,

Mel B Melanie Janine Brown, Order of the British Empire, MBE (born 29 May 1975), commonly known as Mel B or Melanie B, is an English singer, songwriter, television personality, and actress. She rose to fame in the mid 1990s as a member of the Pop mus ...

appeared at the end of the video.

Credits and personnel

;Personnel *Songwriting – Lukasz Gottwald, Max Martin, Bonnie McKee, Henry Walter *Production, instruments and programming – Dr. Luke, Max Martin, Cirkut *Engineering – Clint Gibbs, Sam Holland, Cory Bice (assistant), Rachael Findlen (assistant) *Mixing – Serban Ghenea Credits adapted from the liner notes of ''Ooh La La'', Kemosabe Kids/RCA Records.

Charts

Radio and release history

References

{{G.R.L. 2013 songs 2013 debut singles G.R.L. songs RCA Records singles The Smurfs music Music videos directed by Hannah Lux Davis Song recordings produced by Dr. Luke Song recordings produced by Max Martin Song recordings produced by Cirkut Songs written by Cirkut Songs written by Bonnie McKee