Mutate

"Mutate" is a song recorded by London recording artist Aurora Reed for her upcoming second studio album Haute Mess (2012). The song is due to be released on February 25th, 2013. The track was written solely by Aurora, and was produced by London production duo Chase N Status. It is an uptempo urban song with hints of dubstep and drum'n'bass, that tell the cold story of a broken love.

Music journalists have so far been divided on the track, with many praising Aurora for her 'no holds barred, raw lyricism and handling of the beat', whilst others worried about Aurora straying from her soul roots on a more radio friendly sounding track.

Writing and production
The song was written alone by Aurora, who had recently come out of a tough relationship with American DJ and socialite Nick Blacker. It had been her first break up in the spotlight and she found it particularly difficult. Realising she felt this had ruined her relationship, Aurora wrote and produced a melody to a track named Mutate, which she felt would hit harder with a gritty UK production behind it. The track was produced by Chase N Status at Metropolis Recordings in London.

Release
Aurora announced that Mutate would serve as the second single from her album Haute Mess on December 24, 2012. The track was serviced to radio on January 10, 2013. The song was released on February 25th, 2013 as a digital download and through CD format and hit the coveted #1 spot, selling in surplus of 107,000 sales

Composition
Mutate is an urban song which features influences from Dubstep and Drum'N'Bass. It has a duration of 3 minutes and 42 seconds. Instrumentation consists of a heavy bassline, dark synths and pounding drums. The lyrics revolve around "the moment of realisation that a relationship has turned ugly and nasty", according to Dan Martin of NME, with lyrics such as "Cos you changed, and I changed / So I think we better get up, get out / Cos we're about to mutate..." According to Jocelyn Vena of MTV, Aurora "accentuates the raw feeling when love turns to hate, in tiny nuances of a relationship you used to be fond of, but now you can't stand" on lyrics like "Blood, sweat and tears, a whole year anniversary / No hopes, but fears / Wish that you were dead to me...". Lewis Corner of Digital Spy praised Aurora's raw and gritty vocals on the aggressive track.

Video
The video was directed by Anthony Mandler, who previously directed the video for Aurora's Healin' Heartbreak. In Behind The Scenes footage of the track, Aurora revealed that the video had the characteristics of an action/thriller film, commenting it borrowed ideas from "The Bourne Identity" and "Mr & Mrs Smith" alongside East End gangster films.

The video was premiered on January 21st, 2013, and sees Aurora as a spy, who confronts a stranger who she pops in on several occasions, leading to a confrontation where she realises he is infact a 'mutation' of her lover, and someone she does not recognized. The video was praised for its sleek action inspired format, aswell as the eye opening twist towards the end.

Format and track listing

 * Digital download
 * 1) "Mutate" - 3:42
 * 2) "Mutate" (clean) - 3:42


 * Physical Format
 * 1) "Mutate" - 3:42
 * 2) "Mutate (Zed Bias Edit) " - 4:48
 * 3) "No Diggity" (Blackstreet Cover) " - 4:24
 * 4) "Talk About Love" - 3:33