Queen N Country

"Queen N Country" was a song recorded by London recording artist Aurora Reed for her second studio album Haute Mess (2012). The song was written between Aurora Reed & producer Diplo, and produced by the latter. It contains a sample of "I Love London" by Crystal Fighters. The single was premiered on the 2nd, July 2012 via Radio 1. "Help A Sista Out" is an uptempo urban banger, the first solo song from Aurora that can properly be classed as a "Club Banger" Inspired by the success of C4 G4, her collaboration with music outfit SPELLS, Aurora wanted to create a song that paid homage to London, most specifically its night life.

Writing and production
After the success of C4 G4, Aurora claims that she wanted to make a conscious effort to bring a more uptempo flavour to her music. The soul singer claims that she heard the track "I Love London" a few times on a night out, but was often too intoxicated to remember the name of the track, so asked for help from Diplo to find out what the song is. Discovering it was a track by Crystal Fighters, the singer and producer found a way to incorporate the sample into her own track. The song was the first track to officially be heard from "Haute Mess" - Aurora's sophomore album - as Aurora decided that fans needed to get used to a slight change in sound from her.

Release
Aurora began working on her 2nd album in early 2012. In July 2012, Aurora set up a teaser campaign around London, with the first fan able to work out the clues winning an exclusive preview of the track. The song was premiered on July 2nd, 2012. The song was released on August 12th, 2012 as a download only release - debuting at #1 in the download chart.

Composition
"Queen N Country" is an uptempo urban banger,which introduces a dubstep and electronic edge to Aurora's sound. It had a length of three minutes and twenty one seconds. It features a wonky heavy bassline and grimey keyboard keys, which was a deliberate attempt by Aurora to encapsulate the sound of the underground club scene prevalent in London.

The first verse shows Aurora half singing half rapping her way through the club, singing "Knee deep in bass / stuck like hot glue/ goin' underground, meet you at the tube." Aurora asks the listener to "Raise their hands for a national anthem", before bursting into a repeated chorus of "We've got the moves and we do it for Queen & Country / Red, white, blue and we do it for Queen & Country", followed by the "I Love London" sample. The middle 8 features a dubstep breakdown.

Video
The video is the first video to have been self directed by Aurora. It was released on the 24th of July, and features a Post Apocalyptic London Underground, where the culture of London comes alive underground. Aurora stated that Banksy was also a strong influence for the video, as he is 'The epitomy of London underground urban culture'.

Format and track listing

 * Digital download
 * 1) "Queen N Country" - 3:19