"Love Me Like You" is a song by British girl group Little Mix. It was released through Syco Music and Columbia Records, as the second single from the group's third studio album, Get Weird (2015). It was produced by Steve Mac, who co-wrote the song with Iain James, Camille Purcell and James Newman. A Christmas version was later released, titled "Love Me Like You" Christmas Mix.[1]

"Love Me Like You"
Single by Little Mix
from the album Get Weird
B-side"Lightning"
Released25 September 2015 (2015-09-25)
Recorded2014
StudioRokstone Studios
Genre
Length3:17
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Steve Mac
Little Mix singles chronology
"Black Magic"
(2015)
"Love Me Like You"
(2015)
"Secret Love Song"
(2016)
Music video
"Love Me Like You" on YouTube

"Love Me Like You" is a pop song with a down-tempo retro homage to doo-wop, with lyrics about puppy love. The song received positive reviews from critics who praised its vintage style and highlighted it as an album standout. It charted at number eleven on the UK Singles Chart and charted in eight other countries including Australia, Ireland, and Japan. The song was performed by the group at the Royal Variety in 2015.[2] The song received renewed attention in 2022 and 2024 after becoming viral on the video-sharing social platform, TikTok.[3]

Background and release

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"Love Me Like You" was written by Steve Mac, Camille Purcell, Iain James and James Newman for Little Mix's third studio album, Get Weird (2015). It was published by Rokstone Music Ltd. under exclusive licence to BMG Rights Management (UK) Ltd; Kobalt Music Group; Sony/ATV Music Publishing; Black Butter Music Publishing and BMG Rights Management. The song was produced by Mac and mixed by Serban Ghenea at Mixstar Studios in Virginia Beach, Virginia. It was engineered for mixing by John Hanes and engineered by Chris Laws and Dann Pursey, and mastered by Tom Coyne and Randy Merrill at Sterling Sound Studios in New York. The track was recorded at Rokstone Studios in London. Purcell also provided background vocals. The keyboards were performed by Mac, and the guitars were played by Paul Gendler. Laws and Pursey performed the drums and the percussion, respectively.[4]

The group announced on 9 September 2015 that "Love Me Like You" would be the second single to be released from the album, and that it would be made available to pre-order on 11 September, and be released on 25 September.[5] It was released by Syco and Columbia in Ireland and the United Kingdom on 25 September 2015.[6][7] The single's artwork was released on the same day. In their review, MTV News joked that the group were suggesting that it would be number-one due to each of the band members eyeline, writing "We can't help but get the hint they're on the hunt for ANOTHER chart topping trophy. Leigh-Anne clearly thinks she can see it in the distance, Jesy is just imagining it with her brain, Jade definitely thinks she can hear the noise of records being sold and Perrie is convinced it's on the floor."[5] M magazine writer Heather Thompson described the artwork as "vibrant".[8] A collection of alternate versions called "Love Me Like You (The Collection)" was also released in Australia and New Zealand in addition to Ireland and the United Kingdom on 16 October 2015. It consists of a Christmas mix, several remixes and an instrumental version of "Love Me Like You", an exclusive interview and another album track called "Lightning".[9]

Composition

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"Love Me Like You" was likened to the material recorded by The Ronettes (left) and The Supremes (right) for its retro doo-wop style.

"Love Me Like You" has been described as a down-tempo "ode to '60s doo-wop" retro style pop song,[10][11][12] which lasts for a duration of three minutes, seventeen seconds.[7] The song is composed in the key of G major using common time and a tempo of 106 beats per minute.[13] Instrumentation is provided by "vintage" pianos, bells and a "pumping" tenor sax.[14][15] The use of percussion gives the a track a more modern style.[14] During the track, the band members vocal range spans one octave, from the low note of D4 to the high note of E5.[13]

The song opens with the group harmonising "Sha la la la" over pianos.[14] The lyrics are about puppy love, as they yearningly sing "Last night I lay in bed so blue / Cause' I realized the truth/ They can't love me like you / I tried to find somebody new / Baby they ain't got a clue/ Can't love me like you."[14][15] Fuse writer Jeff Benjamin described the song as being reminiscent of 1960s girl group The Ronettes but with a more modern feel for 2015 radio, highlighting the line "They try to romance me but you got that nasty and that's what I want" as an example.[16] Digital Spy writer Lewis Corner thought that the line "He might got the biggest ca-aa-ar" does not fool listeners into thinking that "they're not actually talking about his Fiat 500."[17] Several music critics compared the song to recordings from the Motown era in the 1950s and 1960s,[10][12][18][19] with Andy Gill of The Independent likening it to material composed by Shadow Morton.[11] Emilee Lindner of MTV News likened the production to material composed by Phil Spector.[15] The Christmas mix version features added church bells and jingles.[20]

Critical reception

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Andy Gill of The Independent described the track as having a "nice" retro sound, and singled it out as being one of his top three songs from the album to download, along with "Black Magic" and "Grown".[11] Writing for NME, Nick Levine thought that "Love Me Like You" was reminiscent of songs recorded by Stooshe, but added that Little Mix performed the Motown style "without the forced sense of fun."[18] Similarly, Billboard writer Malorie MaCall and Digital Spy critic Jack Klompus likened the retro style to songs performed by Meghan Trainor and The Supremes, respectively.[10][19] Music Times writer Carolyn Menyes praised its composition for being "charming" and described the track as "totally charming."[14] A reviewer for Press Play OK commented that the song was "less club night and more prom night."[21] Broadcaster Stephen Fry criticised the track when interviewed by Newsbeat about his review of a selection of songs released in 2015. He described it as "horrible" and a modern-day "hideous, toxic compound" take on a Phil Spector song.[22]

Joe from Attitude wrote "The modern do-wop sound doesn’t always land, but this takes the vintage sound of The Ronettes, complementing 60s sound, whilst giving it a modern edge with those filthy innuendos. To think this was originally called ‘F**k me like you".[23]

Chart performance

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In the United Kingdom, "Love Me Like You" debuted at number 21 on the UK Singles Chart on 8 October 2015.[24] It later peaked at number 11 on 7 January 2016.[25] It also peaked at number nine on the UK Singles Downloads Chart.[26] The track has been certified platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) for 600,000 combined sales and streaming units.[27] In Scotland, the song reached number five.[28] It achieved success in Ireland, reaching number 8 on 31 December 2015.[29] It peaked at number 66 on the Belgium Ultratip Flanders chart on 31 October 2015.[30] It also peaked at number 64 in Slovakia, number 81 in the Czech Republic, and number 140 in France.[31][32][33] Outside of Europe, "Love Me Like You" reached number 80 on the Japan Hot 100, number 27 in Australia, and number one on the New Zealand Heatseekers chart.[34][35][36]

Music video

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The accompanying music video for "Love Me Like You" was released on 10 October 2015.[37][38] The video takes place at a school dance, where a professor in the hall (the same man who appeared in their previous single's video "Black Magic") tells everyone that it is the last dance. Jade, Leigh-Anne, Jesy and Perrie are waiting for their dates to arrive. Scenes of the girls waiting for their date are intercut throughout the video of them sitting at a table while all of the other couples are dancing. Unbeknownst to them, the man (played by Power Rangers Samurai's Hector David Junior) has invited each of them to go to the dance after meeting them in different situations prior to that night.

He asked Jade by picking her up in his car to go on a date. As she gets in, he invites her to be his date at the dance and presents her with a corsage to wear on her wrist on the night. He meets Leigh-Anne at a high school basketball game, where she and her girlfriends were watching him and some other boys play on the court. He sees that she is infatuated by how good he is at the sport, walks up to her, and asks her to be his date by giving her a corsage. He asked Jesy to be his date while they were at the cinema as they shared a bucket of popcorn. As he gives her the corsage, she throws the bucket over her shoulder and eagerly jumps on his lap, causing them to fall off the chair. Finally, he invited Perrie to be his date after she fell off her bike while staring at him work out on a field and pouring water over his torso to cool down. He helps her up, and gives her a corsage. Toward the end of the video, they sit on a bench next to the entrance, and see their date walk in with another girl wearing the same corsage as the ones that he had given each of them. They realise that they have all been two-timed by the same guy, and are all dateless. It ends with the girls being each other's date and solemnly dancing whilst everyone else has a good time.[37]

Metro writer Rebecca Lewis noted that the man in the video strongly resembled Perrie's former fiancé Zayn Malik of One Direction.[39] She also wrote that fans had noticed that she was still wearing her engagement ring in the video, meaning that the video was filmed before they split up in August 2015.[39]

Live performances

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Little Mix performed "Love Me Like You" live on the seventh season of The X Factor in Australia on 13 October 2015.[40] Capital praised their performance, writing that it set an "amazing example" for the contestants on the show and that their vocals were "pitch perfect".[40] On 1 November, the group performed a "Love Me Like You"/"Black Magic" medley on the twelfth series of The X Factor in the United Kingdom.[41] Little Mix sang the track live on Good Morning America in the United States on 5 November.[42] They returned to the UK to perform "Love Me Like You" at the Radio 1 Teen Awards at Wembley Arena on 8 November,[43] and again the following morning on breakfast show Lorraine.[44] "Love Me Like You" was included on the set-list of their segment at Capital's annual Jingle Bell Ball on 6 December, along with the other singles to be released Get Weird "Black Magic" and "Secret Love Song", as well as previous singles "Salute", "Move" and "Wings".[45]

Track listing

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  • Digital download[7]
  1. "Love Me Like You"  – 3:17
  • Digital download — The Collection[9]
  1. "Love Me Like You" (Christmas Mix)  – 3:29
  2. "Lightning"  – 5:09
  3. "Love Me Like You" (J-Vibe Reggae Remix)  – 3:04
  4. "Love Me Like You" (Bimbo Jones Remix)  – 3:07
  5. "Love Me Like You" (7th Heaven Remix)  – 3:10
  6. "Love Me Like You" (Exclusive Interview)  – 3:16
  7. "Love Me Like You" (Instrumental)  – 3:15

Charts

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Chart (2015–2016) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[35] 27
Belgium (Ultratip Flanders)[30] 66
Czech Republic (Singles Digitál Top 100)[32] 81
Euro Digital Songs (Billboard)[46] 14
France (SNEP)[33] 140
Ireland (IRMA)[29] 8
Japan (Japan Hot 100)[34] 80
New Zealand Heatseekers (RMNZ)[36] 1
Scotland (Official Charts Company)[28] 5
Slovakia (Singles Digitál Top 100)[31] 64
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[25] 11

Certifications

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Region Certification Certified units/sales
Brazil (Pro-Música Brasil)[47] Platinum 60,000
Poland (ZPAV)[48]
Christmas Mix
Gold 25,000
United Kingdom (BPI)[27] Platinum 600,000

Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

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  1. ^ "Pop stars with Christmas songs you forgot about". Capital. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
  2. ^ "Little Mix 'nervous' about meeting Prince Harry at Royal Variety performance". Glasgow Times. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
  3. ^ Gilbert, Olivia (22 March 2022). "Watch Perrie and Leigh-Anne jump on the latest TikTok trend with their adorable babies". Women's Health. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
  4. ^ Get Weird (Liner notes). Little Mix. Columbia Records, Syco Records. 2015.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  5. ^ a b "Little Mix's 'Love Me Like You' Single Artwork Suggests They're On The Hunt For Another No.1". MTV News. 10 September 2015. Archived from the original on 7 February 2016. Retrieved 6 February 2016.
  6. ^ "Little Mix release new single Love Me Like You". Official Charts Company. 25 September 2015. Archived from the original on 30 March 2016. Retrieved 6 February 2016.
  7. ^ a b c "Love Me Like You" was released as a single in Ireland and the UK on 25 September 2015:
  8. ^ Thompson, Heather (9 September 2015). "Little Mix 'Love Me Like You' Single Artwork". M. Archived from the original on 7 February 2016. Retrieved 6 February 2016.
  9. ^ a b "Love Me like You (The Collection)" was released in Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and UK on 16 October 2015:
  10. ^ a b c Klompus, Jack (25 September 2015). "Hear Little Mix's new Motown-inspired single 'Love Me Like You' now". Digital Spy. Archived from the original on 7 February 2016. Retrieved 6 February 2016.
  11. ^ a b c Gill, Andy (6 November 2015). "Little Mix, Get Weird – album review". The Independent. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 6 February 2016.
  12. ^ a b Gracie, Bianca (2 October 2015). "Little Mix's Prom Night Goes Wrong In New 'Love Me Like You" Video: Watch". Idolator. Archived from the original on 26 October 2016. Retrieved 6 February 2016.
  13. ^ a b "Digital Sheet Music, Little Mix 'Love Me Like You'". Musicnotes.com. 2015. Archived from the original on 7 February 2016. Retrieved 6 February 2016.
  14. ^ a b c d e Menyes, Carolyn (25 September 2015). "Little Mix's Old School New Single 'Love Me Like You' Arrives Ahead of 'Get Weird' [Listen]". Music Times. Archived from the original on 4 February 2016. Retrieved 6 February 2016.
  15. ^ a b c Lindner, Emliee (25 September 2015). "Little Mix's 'Love Me Like You' Is Retro '60s Girl Group Perfection". MTV News. Archived from the original on 23 January 2016. Retrieved 6 February 2016.
  16. ^ Benjamin, Jeff (25 September 2015). "Listen to Little Mix's modern day Doo-wop single 'Love Me Like You'". Fuse. Archived from the original on 7 February 2016. Retrieved 6 February 2016.
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  25. ^ a b "Official Singles Chart Top 100 – 01 January 2016 – 07 January 2016". Official Charts Company. 7 January 2016. Archived from the original on 11 March 2016. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
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  28. ^ a b "Official Scottish Singles Chart Top 100 – 13 November 2015 – 19 November 2015". Official Charts Company. 19 November 2015. Archived from the original on 5 February 2016. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
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  30. ^ a b "Little Mix – Love Me Like You". Ultratop.be. 31 October 2015. Archived from the original on 31 October 2016. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
  31. ^ a b "IFPI ČR Hitparáda – Singles Digital – Top 100 Týden – 2015 42". ifpicr.cz/hitparada (in Czech). Archived from the original (Insert Single Digital Top 100 201542 into search) on 10 January 2007. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
  32. ^ a b "IFPI ČR Hitparáda – Singles Digital – Top 100 Týden – 2015 43". ifpicr.cz/hitparada (in Czech). Archived from the original (Insert Single Digital Top 100 201543 into search) on 5 July 2006. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
  33. ^ a b "Little Mix – Love Me Like You (Chanson)". lescharts.com (in French). 3 October 2015. Archived from the original on 4 April 2016. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
  34. ^ a b "Little Mix Chart History – Japan Hot 100". Billboard. 28 November 2015. Archived from the original on 1 July 2016. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
  35. ^ a b "Little Mix – Love Me Like You (Song)". Australian-charts.com. 1 November 2015. Archived from the original on 20 January 2016. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
  36. ^ a b "Heatseeker Singles – The Official NZ Music Charts 11 January 2016". Recorded Music NZ. 11 January 2016. Archived from the original on 25 January 2016. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
  37. ^ a b Garibaldi, Christina (10 October 2015). "Little Mix Take It To Prom For Their 'Love Me Like You' Video". MTV News. Archived from the original on 10 December 2015. Retrieved 8 February 2016.
  38. ^ Strecker, Erin (10 October 2015). "Go Back to Prom With Little Mix's 'Love Me Like You' Video". Billboard. Archived from the original on 4 May 2016. Retrieved 8 February 2016.
  39. ^ a b Lewis, Rebecca (2 October 2015). "Little Mix's prom night isn't all it's cracked up to be in the brand new brilliant music video". Metro. Archived from the original on 25 January 2016. Retrieved 8 February 2016.
  40. ^ a b "Watch: Little Mix Smashed Their Performance Of 'Love Me Like You' On X Factor Australia". Capital. 14 October 2015. Archived from the original on 21 February 2016. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
  41. ^ Duke, Simon (2 November 2015). "Little Mix wow on return to The X Factor with Love Me Like You/Black Magic medley". Chronicle Live. Archived from the original on 7 January 2016. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
  42. ^ "The Women of Little Mix Rock 'GMA'". ABC News. 5 November 2015. Retrieved 14 December 2024.
  43. ^ Cox, Lauren (8 November 2015). "Little Mix Serenades Radio 1 Teen Awards With 'Love Me Like You' — Watch". Hollywoodlife.com. Archived from the original on 14 February 2016. Retrieved 8 February 2016.
  44. ^ Merriman, Rebecca (9 November 2015). "Watch Little Mix perform heartbreaking single Love Me Like You on Lorraine as Get Weird shoots up the charts". The Mirror. Archived from the original on 22 February 2016. Retrieved 8 February 2016.
  45. ^ "Little Mix – 'Love Me Like You' (Live At Capital's Jingle Bell Ball 2015)". Capital. 6 December 2015. Archived from the original on 21 February 2016. Retrieved 8 February 2016.
  46. ^ "Chart Search". Billboard. Retrieved 28 June 2019.
  47. ^ "Brazilian single certifications – Little Mix – Love Me Like You" (in Portuguese). Pro-Música Brasil. Retrieved 14 May 2021.
  48. ^ "OLiS - oficjalna lista wyróżnień" (in Polish). Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 7 February 2024. Click "TYTUŁ" and enter Love Me Like You in the search box.