"The Promise" | ||||
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Single by Girls Aloud | ||||
from the album Out of Control | ||||
Released | 15 October 2008 | |||
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Label | Fascination | |||
Songwriter(s) |
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Girls Aloud singles chronology | ||||
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Music video | ||||
"The Promise" on YouTube |
"The Promise" is a single by British girl group Girls Aloud, taken from their fifth and final studio album Out of Control (2008). The song was written by Brian Higgins, Miranda Cooper, Jason Resch, Kieran Jones, and Carla Marie Williams and produced by frequent contributor Higgins along with production team Xenomania. Influenced by Phil Spector and music of the 1960s, "The Promise" is an upbeat love song about falling in love uncontrollably after promising to never fall in love again.
The song was praised and appreciated by most contemporary music critics, who lauded the song despite considering it unusual for Girls Aloud. It was honoured as Song of the Year at the 2009 BRIT Awards, becoming Girls Aloud's first win at the ceremony,[1] and was also nominated for PRS for Music's Most Performed Work at the 2010 Ivor Novello Awards as well as for Best Single at the 2008 Heat Awards.[2] "The Promise" was also awarded the Popjustice £20 Music Prize, the band's fifth single to win the prize.
Upon its release in October 2008, the single became Girls Aloud's fourth number one on the UK Singles Chart, continuing their six-year streak of top ten hits. It also peaked at number two on the Irish Singles Chart. A music video for the song, directed by Trudy Bellinger, is set at a drive-in movie theatre, where Girls Aloud watch themselves performing as a 1960s girl group on screen. "The Promise" was promoted through numerous live appearances, including a high-profile performance on the fifth series of The X Factor, and served as the opening number of 2009's Out of Control Tour.