Only You (Cheat Codes and Little Mix song)

"Only You"
Single by Cheat Codes and Little Mix
ReleasedJune 22, 2018 (2018-06-22)
Length3:09
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
Cheat Codes singles chronology
"I Love It"
(2018) 		"Only You"
(2018) 		"Home"
(2018)
Little Mix singles chronology
"Reggaetón Lento (Remix)"
(2017) 		"Only You"
(2018) 		"Woman Like Me"
(2018)
Music video
"Only You" on YouTube

"Only You" is a song by American electronic music trio Cheat Codes and British girl group Little Mix. It was released on June 22, 2018, as a single through Syco Music and 300 Entertainment. The song was written by Richard Boardman, Pablo Bowman, the three members of Cheat Codes (Trevor Dahl, Kevin Ford, and Matthew Russell), and Digital Farm Animals (Nicholas Gale), and was produced by Dahl and Digital Farm Animals, along with Maegan Cottone . The song featured on the Ministry of Sound compilation album The Pool Party, and later on the deluxe edition of Little Mix's fifth studio album LM5 (2018), and the acoustic version appears on the Japanese edition of the album.

"Only You" was met with positive reviews from critics. The song's lyrics are about missing a special someone in your life.[1] A music video was later released and features a same sex couple with an LGBTQ+ themed storyline.[2]

"Only You" reached the top ten in Hungary. The song peaked at number fifteen on the UK Singles Chart, and reached the charts in thirteen other territories including France, Ireland and Australia. It has since received two platinum and two gold music certifications. Little Mix performed the song at the 2018 Jingle Bell Ball, BBC Teen Awards, and on tour, the most recent being The Confetti Tour in 2022.[3]

Background

The song was written by Pablo Bowman, Nicholas Gale and Richard Boardman, with production by Digital Farm Animals, Maegan Cottone. The song was revealed in June 2018 with its inclusion on The Pool Party album, which accompanied the television series Love Island.[4][5] Snippets of the song were teased by Cheat Codes and Little Mix prior to the song's release. Cheat Codes and Little Mix announced on Twitter that the song would be released on June 22, 2018.[6][7][8] The song's picture cover was released a day later along with some leaked lyrics.[9]

Composition

"Only You" is a midtempo EDM song,[10] backed by an acoustic guitar,[11] that runs for three-minutes and nine seconds.[12] It includes elements of electronic, tropical house and ambient.[13] It contains backing vocals by the members of Cheat Codes. All the lyrics are structured in verse–pre-chorus–chorus which contain no vocals but instead an instrumental.[6] Lyrically it is about love and post-breakup phase of a relationship.

Music video

The music video for the song was released on July 12, 2018, on Little Mix's official YouTube channel. The video features an LGBTQ+ storyline between two girls (played by Lisa Starrett and Peyton List) at a house party, one of whom turns out to be a mermaid. The video was directed by Frank Borin.[14]

Synopsis

The plot shows a girl (played by Lisa), picking clothes for a party and it later shows her arriving and has trouble interacting with the others and she decides to sit on the couch. Meanwhile, a mysterious girl (played by Peyton) is seen hiding in the bushes and runs and takes a nearby yellow jacket and runs off and enters the party and Lisa and Peyton lock eyes and decide to dance and seen having fun together at the party, such as conversations, games and dancing. Then a group of other girls show up interrupting the two. One specific girl notices Peyton has her jacket. Angry, she pushes Peyton in the pool and she doesn't show up for a while. Worried, Lisa jumps in the pool to save her and find out she is okay and they kiss. It then shows the two kissing on the party while also showing the shocking discovery of Peyton being the mermaid. It then shows Lisa carrying Peyton to the ocean while also showing scenes of their greatest times and Lisa kneels on the beach sunrise where Peyton is, having to let her go.

Critical reception

MTV called the song a "sun-tinged tune". They also said that it was "so good" to finally have the girls back again.[15] Kat Bein from Billboard said: "It's most certainly a summer-made single, dripping in youthful romantic sentiments with an acoustic foundation".[16]

Live performances

The band made a televised debut of the song on October 21, 2018, at the 2018 BBC Radio 1's Teen Awards,[17] where they also won the Best British Group award.[18]

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from Tidal.[19]

Personnel

  • Electric – songwriter, producer, engineer, instruments, programming
  • Pablo Bowman, Trevor Dahl, Nicholas Gale and Richard Boardman – songwriter
  • Digital Farm Animals, Maegan Cottone and Trevor Dahl – producer
  • Danny Casio – engineer
  • Randy Merrill – mastering engineer
  • Serban Ghenea, John Hanes – mix engineer

Charts

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Brazil (Pro-Música Brasil)[44] Platinum 40,000‡
Mexico (AMPROFON)[45] Gold 30,000‡
Poland (ZPAV)[46] Gold 10,000‡
United Kingdom (BPI)[47] Platinum 600,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Release history

Region Date Format Label Ref.
New Zealand June 22, 2018
[48]
United States July 31, 2018 Contemporary hit radio 300 Entertainment [1]

References

  1. ^ a b "Top 40/M Future Releases". All Access Media Group. Archived from the original on July 31, 2018. Retrieved August 18, 2018.
  2. ^ Melody Chiu (July 13, 2018). "Little Mix and Cheat Codes Release LGBTQ+ 'Only You' Video Starring Peyton List as a Mermaid". People. Retrieved June 20, 2022.
  3. ^ "Little Mix – 'Only You' (Live At The Jingle Bell Ball 2018)". Capital. Retrieved June 20, 2022.
  4. ^ "Perrie Edward's Paris Lyric In New Song 'Only You' Has Got Fans Freaking Out". Capital FM. Archived from the original on June 24, 2018. Retrieved June 24, 2018.
  5. ^ Copsey, Rob. "Little Mix team up with Cheat Codes on new song Only You for Love Island album". Official Charts. Archived from the original on June 17, 2018. Retrieved June 24, 2018.
  6. ^ a b "look out for part 2". Twitter. Archived from the original on February 17, 2019. Retrieved June 24, 2018.
  7. ^ "Two screens are better than one". Twitter. Archived from the original on June 22, 2018. Retrieved June 24, 2018.
  8. ^ "One brick at a time we watched it fall…". Twitter. Archived from the original on June 22, 2018. Retrieved June 24, 2018.
  9. ^ "Back at it with some new new for you all, "only you" with the girls in @LittleMix drops Friday". Twitter. Archived from the original on February 17, 2019. Retrieved June 24, 2018.
  10. ^ "Little Mix release song with EDM trio Cheat Codes". Herald & Review. Archived from the original on June 24, 2018. Retrieved June 24, 2018.
  11. ^ "Little Mix Teams Up With Cheat Codes For New Single 'Only You'". Idolator. June 18, 2018. Retrieved June 24, 2018.
  12. ^ "Only You - Single by Cheat Codes & Little Mix on Apple Music - iTunes". ITunes Store. June 22, 2018. Archived from the original on June 24, 2018. Retrieved June 24, 2018.
  13. ^ "Single Review: Little Mix & Cheat Codes – Only You". A Bit Of Pop Music. June 22, 2018. Archived from the original on June 24, 2018. Retrieved June 24, 2018.
  14. ^ Mele, Sofia (July 13, 2018). "Cheat Codes and Little Mix Tell a Mermaid Love Story in Vibrant 'Only You' Video: Watch". Billboard. Archived from the original on July 18, 2018. Retrieved July 13, 2018.
  15. ^ "little mix are back with cheat codes on brand new summer smash 'only you'". MTV. Archived from the original on June 23, 2018. Retrieved June 24, 2018.
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  28. ^ "Archívum – Slágerlisták – MAHASZ" (in Hungarian). Rádiós Top 40 játszási lista. Magyar Hanglemezkiadók Szövetsége. Retrieved October 26, 2018.
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  35. ^ "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved August 4, 2018.
  36. ^ "ČNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Select 35. týden 2018 in the date selector. Retrieved September 4, 2018.
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  44. ^ "Brazilian single certifications – Cheat Codes & Little Mix – Only You" (in Portuguese). Pro-Música Brasil. Retrieved May 12, 2021.
  45. ^ "Certificaciones" (in Spanish). Asociación Mexicana de Productores de Fonogramas y Videogramas. Retrieved October 16, 2020. Type Cheat Codes & Little Mix in the box under the ARTISTA column heading and Only You in the box under the TÍTULO column heading.
  46. ^ "Wyróżnienia – Złote płyty CD - Archiwum - Przyznane w 2019 roku" (in Polish). Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry. Retrieved February 23, 2019.
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