Little Black Book

"Little Black Book" is the lead single from English band Jetfire's sophomore studio album Counting The Stars. The single was released on 06 June 2016 via Digital Download and physical release through Next Generation Records. The song received positive reviews from pop music critics who praised the groups "evolved sound". The single marks Jetfire's first official single in three years. Upon it's release, "Little Black Book" charted at #1 on the UK Singles Chart, giving Jetfire their third UK #1 single, and also became the bands most succesful single to date. The song is written about singer Syd Wolfe.

Background
Jetfire initially began working on their second studio album in 2013, around the time they finished their first album era. Throughout that time, besides releasing their annual christmas song each December, the band stayed very quiet about how the music was coming on. In April 2016, rumours began to circulate that the band were about to announce a comeback and the following week on 21 April 2016, Jetfire announced they would be returning with their sophomore album "Counting The Stars" being released on 06 June, alongside the albums lead single. In an interview with Billboard on 04 May 2016, the band revealed the single was titled "Little Black Book". About the singles title, band member Aaron Dixon stated "Essentially, a little black book is a name for what some people write a list of their lovers in, so it's about how you can love someone so much, but you're nothing more to them than a name in their book of conquests." In the same interview, Joey Nicholson revealed the song was written about singer Syd Wolfe, whom had previously been in a relationship with Dixon until she had a highly publicised affair behind his back.

Release and reception
On 09 May, the band revealed "Little Black Book" would be receiving it's worldwide première on BBC Radio 1 on 12 May 2016, although due to a conflicting schedule, it was actually premièred a day later, on 13 May.

Upon release, "Little Black Book" was met with critical acclaim. Owen Myers of The Fader regarded it as "up there with the best" of the group's discography. Myers felt the group's song writing abilities had "improved immensity. Lewis Corner and Amy Davidson from Digital Spy said the track is "as emotionally personal as it is a slice of absolute perfection". Stefan Kyriazis of the Daily Express hailed the song as "a powerful return to form", deeming it "timeless" and "classic Jetfire despite sounding like nothing they've recorded before". Similarly, Sarah Deen of Metro wrote: "It's everything you want from Jetfire – chilled out and melodic, but with feisty, meaningful lyrics and lovely harmonies. These boys have still got it – and sound more fresh than ever." Popjustice said the track "was the most personal and powerful song of the year so far." Gibsone wrote that the song demonstrated how much Jetfire have matured in their four year absence: "Previous releases from Jetfire have been fun pop/rock from a group of boys. This is real, raw, personal music, showing the boys have become men. Despite this, their veil of mystery, their aloof cool remains." Gibsone highlighted a lack of melodrama in the lyrics and considered "Little Black Book" to be "as elegant as a song about [being cheated on] can sound". Soames considered the "catchy" chorus and "energetic" refrain highlights. Caitlin McBride of the Irish Independent commented that the track was "actually pretty good".

Robbie Daw from Idolator viewed "Little Black Book" as "easily one of 2016's best songs so far" and noted that Jetfire were "in fine form". Mark Savage, music reporter for BBC News, complimented the lyrics, highlighting the lyrics "But now you're bored and you've walked out on me and your son, Well wherever you are now, I really hope you're having fun" as "possibly the most honest and powerful two lines ever used in a song. If that doesn't hurt Syd, nothing will."

Virgin Media said the group "have never sounded better". Noisey called the song "glorious" and a "triumphant comeback single", and claimed that the group offer something no other act does. Eleanor Margolis of the New Statesman commented, "It's insane to compare the bands previous singles to this. Never has a boyband transformed and evolved into men before our eyes so gracefully". Conversely, Fact magazine found the track a "slow burner".

Track listing

 * Digital download
 * 1) "Little Black Book" – 3:43


 * Digital EP – US Exclusive
 * 1) "Little Black Book" – 3:43
 * 2) "Little Black Book" (Acoustic Version) – 3:51
 * 3) "The Recipe" ((Matoma Remix) – 4:31
 * 4) "Bambi" – 4:22

Music Video
At a film premiere on 31 May 2016, band member Joey Nicholson revealed the music video would premiere within "the next week". The video premiered on 07 June 2016.

The video begins outside an abandoned warehouse. Suddenly a large group of young females run towards the warehouse and the songs intro plays. The girls break down the door to the warehouse and charge inside. Once inside, they come across a very dark room with a dimly lit stage. Suddenly the lights blast on and Jetfire begin to perform “Little Black Book”. The girls go crazy jumping up and down. Throughout the performance, emphasis is put on a beautiful brunette in the front row of the crowd, who unlike everyone else, is standing very still and calm, staring at the boys and smiling. The group appear to finish their performance and leave the stage, however Joey can't take his eyes off the woman and as the band leave, he hands a piece of paper with his number on to her. The next scene shows Jetfire leaving the venue and getting on a bus, however Joey waits behind outside as the lady walks over to him. They chat and flirt when suddenly the woman bites into his neck with vampire-like teeth and he falls to the ground. She opens up a little black book she had in her pocket and writes in Joey's name. The rest of the band see what happens and drive the bus away into the night.

The bus is now parked deep in the middle of a dark forest, whilst the three band members sleep. The woman sneaks on to the bus and bites into Mikey's neck while he sleeps, causing him to scream. Aaron and Sean run out of the bus and into the dark forest as the woman adds Mikey's name to her book.

Running through the forest, Aaron and Sean get separated. Sean continues to run until he crashes straight into the woman, who was stood directly before him. She is then seen wiping blood from her lips and adding Sean's name to her book.

The final member, Aaron, comes across a church. He walks to the front of the alter and looks around for an exit route. Suddenly the door behind him closes and the brunette lady is stood there. She walks down the aisle slowly, with Aaron no longer running away, accepting his fate. Blood is then shown to splatter all over a statue of Jesus on the cross.

The final scene from the video shows Aaron, now as a vampire-like creature too, standing on the roof of the church, and screaming out into the darkness.

Chart performance
The single was released on 06 June, 2016. The single debuted at #1 with first week sales of 114,615 - easily giving the band their highest first week sales ever. This gave Jetfire their third #1 single in the UK. Despite huge first week sales, in the singles second week on the chart it saw an increase in sales, selling a further 132,259 copies, and was less than 7,000 copies away from a second week at #1. The song debuted at #1 on the Digital chart, selling 36,124 downloads, almost 10,000 more than it's nearest competitor. This made "Little Black Book" the bands first #1 on the Digital chart. Following it's official premiere, the song first appeared on the Airplay chart at #35 then rose to #26 the following week before entering the top twenty at #20. The next week (the official release week for the single, the single shot up to the Airplay chart to #1, giving Jetfire their first #1 on the Airplay chart. This meant that "Little Black Book" was #1 on the singles chart, digital chart and airplay chart simutaneously, a rare feature. Alongside this, the group's album was at #1 on the same week too.