Outlaw

"Outlaw" is a song by British recording artist Alesha. The song was written and produced by Alesha for her tenth studio album, The White Album (2016). "Outlaw" is an alternative rock song, taking influence from indie folk and country music, specifically the outlaw movement popularized in the 1970s. Alesha depicts herself as a desperado, "bringing terror to your town", and subverts gender norms with brazenly feminist lyrics. "Outlaw" was released as the third single from The White Album on March 13, 2017. The song was also included on the compilation album Number Ones later that year.

"Outlaw" received generally positive reviews from music critics, who cited the song as one of the album's standouts and praised Alesha's "audacious" lyrics. Some reviewers criticized its musical composition. It was commercially successful, charting at number one on the official singles chart. Remaining in the top 40 for a number of months, "Outlaw" became Alesha's third single to sell over 900,000 copies.

The accompanying music video for "Outlaw" was directed by Jonas Åkerlund. It was not premiered until June 12, 2017, when Alesha released The White Album: Visual Edition. Drawing inspiration from the HBO television series Westworld and Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill saga, the clip received positive feedback for hearkening back to Alesha's older videos, and taking inspiration from action films. Alesha performed the song live on her Ceremony world tour.

Background and composition
Throughout 2015, Alesha filmed scenes for a major motion picture directed by Gus van Sant. The film, Exile in Nashville (2016), was called a "road trip movie". Alesha and co-star Joaquin Phoenix would ride between filming locations on a tour bus. Alesha credited the bus driver with exposing her to what she called "American sounds". "He listened to old Johnny Cash records," Alesha told Rolling Stone while discussing the film and its soundtrack. Alesha developed an appreciation for the country genre, praising what she described as the immediacy of the themes and the straightforward narrative structure of many of the songs she listened to.

Alesha began writing and recording her tenth studio album, The White Album, in April 2016, while embarked on the Cruising World Tour. After completing the tour in June, Alesha and her family permanently relocated to the United States. The White Album, praised for its diversity, was influenced by Alesha's experiences whilst filming Exile in Nashville as well as the volatile political climate. "Outlaw" would be the most overtly country-tinged song on the album, taking inspiration from folk rock as well as the "outlaw country" subgenre popularized in the 1970s. Lyrically, Alesha referred to two of her favorite songs, "Friend of the Devil" by the Grateful Dead and "Folsom Prison Blues" by Johnny Cash. Both songs were covered as B-sides for the "Outlaw" single release.

Reception
Tricia Gilbride from Mashable called "Outlaw" "ridiculously catchy" and noted that "this may just be one of Alesha's most simplistic yet most visual songs yet". Larry Bartleet of British magazine NME commented that "the transformation might grate on fans of Alesha's past few albums of pop, but from these lyrics it looks like she really doesn't care what people think". Stephen Thomas Erlewine from AllMusic called the song "riotous". Mike Schiller of PopMatters gave "Outlaw" a four-out-of-ten rating, calling it "a song that has a lot of energy but can’t find a memorable melody to save its life".

Track listing and formats

 * Digital single
 * 1) "Outlaw"
 * 2) "Folsom Prison Blues" (Johnny Cash cover)


 * Limited-edition 7" vinyl
 * 1) "Outlaw"
 * 2) "Friend of the Devil" (Grateful Dead cover)