Glitter On The Drums

"Glitter On The Drums" is a song recorded by London recording artist Aurora Reed for her debut album Thoughts To Word (2011). The song was released on December 12th, 2012. The track was written by Aurora Reed, Terius Nash and Christopher Stewart, and produced by The Dream & Tricky Stewart. It borrows influence from retro soul, funk and rock, and is a smooth, cool, uptempo track dedicated to a lazy lover.

Music journalists gave the song mostly positive reviews, praising Aurora for her Motown inspired, heavy soul track, that managed to give the listener a warm fuzzy feeling, and make them want to dance at the same time.

Writing and production
The song was the final track written by Aurora for her debut album, Thoughts To Word. Aurora claimed that she wanted a song that was "A real throwback record dragged to the 21st century, inspired by Motown Records, and artists such as The Supremes and Little Richard, via Prince". Aurora claimed that the melody for the verses and chorus came to her very easily, but she had difficulty writing a suitable and catchy middle 8. Inspired by tracks from the 1960's, Aurora made finished the song with a call and response section.

Release
After the #1 success of Orchestra, and her debut album Thoughts To Word hitting the top spot, Aurora decided to revert back to the soulful vibes of her debut single Burn Burn Burn. Glitter On The Drums was announced as the third single from Thoughts To Word, with a release date of December 12th, 2011, available on both physical format and digital download. The song charted at #1 the following week. It went on to sell over 510,000 copies.

Composition
Glitter On The Drums is an uptempo soul track, which features influences from alternative hip hop and funk. It has a duration of 3 minutes and 55 seconds. Instrumentation consists of strong percussion, synthesizing basslines and horns. The song takes the format similar to Motown music, with a call and response middle 8. The theme of the song talks about a love that has grown a bit lazy or old, and Aurora begging for her lover to "Pour some glitter on the drums / Beat 'em up, beat 'em up / Turn my skies to silver and gold!" The song features old school jazz, funk improvised ad libs, with "ooh's" and "oh oh's" sprinkled throughout. In the songs middle 8, Aurora begs her "Sugar, darling, baby lover" to break it down for her, and "Pour the glitter til it rains off the bass."

Video
The video was directed by Bryan Barber, and shot in London. This was a deliberate decision from Aurora, who wanted the video to reflect a 1960's Britain, claming "I really wanted a strong London vibe with a bit of the underground scene mixed in. Let's not forget some of the greatest bands and drummers started off in the UK. The video will still be retro, but just not in a glossy American way". The video was noted to contain references to the 1960's, and was mostly shot in black and white.

The video was released on November 12th, 2011. It shows Aurora starring as a British female rockstar in the 1960's, akin to a female equivalent of The Rolling Stones or The Beatles. It also shows influence from modelling icon Twiggy and Pop Art influence extraordinaire Andy Warhol. The video shows Aurora unable to get attention from her lover, only to find that he has invented colour television so the whole world can see her in the beautiful colours he sees when he looks into her eyes.

Format and track listing

 * Physical Format - CD 1
 * 1) "Glitter On The Drums" - 3:55
 * 2) "It Wasn't Love" - 3:23


 * Physical Format - CD 2
 * 1) "Glitter On The Drums" - 3:55
 * 2) "Stand Back" - 3:07