Music From Mars

"Music From Mars" is the eleventh official single release by British pop singer Romo and the first from her self-titled fourth studio album. The single and album were simultaneously released on December 27, 2010 and marked her first releases with Saturdays Records, where she signed following the bankruptcy of Ensemble Entertainment.

The song returns to the themes explored in her 2008 single "Schizo Pop", as a criticism of current musical trends that ironically mirrors those very trends. It was musically and lyrically influenced by China's "Not Gonna Tell", while critics have compared its unconventional style and structure to Girls Aloud's "Sexy! No, No, No".

The full album version of the song is eight minutes long, while the radio edit is chopped down to five minutes and 15 seconds.

Riding a wave of heavy promotion following her most aggressive comeback bid yet, "Music From Mars" became Romo's seventh #1 single upon its release and the first #1 of 2011.

Background
"Music From Mars" was one of the first songs written for Romo. Romo, disappointed that the less than stellar chart performance of "TITS-FM!" meant she would not be able to release her pet project, the 10-minute epic track "Funeral", as a single, desired to create a more accessible epic song for her fourth studio album for single release. By then she decided not to do a concept record, as she felt the fake popstar concept had been overdone to the point where she was starting to turn into her alter egos.

Romo began working on the song in March 2010, while she was growing increasingly disenchanted with American pop music due to what she saw as a "butchering" of the electropop and Eurodisco styles to fit the mold of American radio, as well as the continued popularity of autotune.

When it came time to determine the project's lead single, Romo was aiming to bring China and Elice Claire together to release their collaboration, "My Generation". But with China's own commitments and Elice's plan to retire from music, she could not release the song. After speaking with bosses at Saturdays Records, it was decided that "Music From Mars" would be the album's lead single, on the condition that Romo allowed it to be edited down to five minutes for radio play.

Composition
"Music From Mars" contains elements of dark electro, piano pop, and art rock, styles which make up Romo's blend of "progressive pop" which she pioneered with the recording of "Funeral".

The song is broken down into five parts. It opens with only a slow, soft piano as the musical background, as Romo gives a sorrowful vocal performance. About three minutes into the song, the tempo abruptly changes to an upbeat, electropop backing with cymbals and handclaps. In this part, Romo alternates between singing and rapping and uses autotune for the purpose of irony. In the third part, the tempo reverts back to the slow piano, except Romo's vocals are autotuned, to symbolize that she has been "invaded". The fourth part, reverting back to the tempo and structure of the second part, takes the form of a "battle" that commences between the narrator and the invaders. The epilogue, which lasts for the song's last 45 seconds, consists of a reflection from the narrator that amends the hook of the first part to symbolize she has been "defeated".

Romo said "Music From Mars" is the only song on Romo with rap vocals.

Lyrics
The song's narrator is a young woman who expresses contempt for the current music scene because nearly everyone uses computerized elements in their records. In expressing her thoughts, she calls the new wave of singers "invaders" and recalls one who has a human face but "sings like a machine". Later on she herself discovers she has been "invaded", as she sounds like one in the group. She has become something she's not just to fit in, and finds she's not happy with herself. She wants to go back to where she used to be, but finds herself "under the parasite's spell" and cannot break free.

Romo summarized the song's theme as "describing the perpetual struggle of achieving a balance between being true to yourself and fulfilling the needs and wants of others".

In an interview with gossip columnist Trish, Romo confirmed the song is a statement on the music industry, saying that the domination of electro music lacking in quality and depth is driving many listeners away from pop radio: "We've got many people abandoning the pop airwaves because they're sick of this manufactured shit, which is getting worse and worse by the moment and has become so contagious it's claiming the talents of talented artists who are now clearly just in it to make a quick buck."

The song contains a reference to the Black Eyed Peas' song "Boom Boom Pow", in which the group touts its futuristic sound in lines such as, "I'm so 3008, you so 2000 and late". Romo twists the lyrics to express her belief that futuristic-sounding musical acts are short on quality: "They're so 3008, but I just can't relate / They're second rate compared to what came out in 1988". Romo also makes unfavorable references to Apple's GarageBand software, a music editing program that can digitally enhance audio, and DayGlow, known as "the world's largest paint party".

Reception
"Music From Mars" received mostly positive to mixed reviews from critics. Allmusic said the song was a step up above the material from POPSTAR 2 and demonstrated Romo's risk-taking capabilities by "defying all the norms in the pop playbook". BBC Music described the song as "epic" and "a promising sign of what to expect on Romo's new album."

The Guardian named "Music From Mars" as an album highlight because of its "imaginative critique of the music industry". In its review of Romo, Spin Magazine called the song "anthemic" and "unapologetically grandiose". Several publications praised the idea of releasing an epic song to distance herself from being typecast for her previous works, with Q comparing her strategy to Radiohead's decision to release "Paranoid Android" as the lead single from their 1997 album OK Computer.

The song also received intense criticism. Rolling Stone's review of "Music From Mars" criticized Romo for a "pompous, brash effort constructed in such a way to attempt to be groundbreaking". NME was also critical of the song, saying, "Romo's so-called introduction to her personality shows she is not much different from her alter egos; in fact, the unbearable noise-driven production of 'Music From Mars' makes her sound even worse." Pitchfork Media labeled Romo's vocal performance as "disconnected", while Paste described the song as "eight minutes of condemnation of artists who aren't groundbreaking by a singer in the same league as the Black Eyed Peas of the world."

Putanovska described "Music From Mars" as "the best song ever written".

Track listings
CD1
 * 1) Music From Mars (album version)
 * 2) Music From Mars (radio edit)
 * 3) Life On Mars?
 * 4) Taking Back Mars (Romo vs. DAMNED vs. Veronica's Science)

CD2
 * 1) Music From Mars (album version)
 * 2) Music From Mars (Phoenix Rising's Phobos Club Mix)
 * 3) Music From Mars (MC Tenty's Risin' in Uranus Remix)
 * 4) Music From Mars (Hailey & Romo are from Venus Mix)

Promotion
The single's original release was scheduled for October 11, 2010, pushed up from a scheduled date of "early 2011" due to popular demand for a comeback. But Saturdays Records suspended the promotional campaign as a result of Michael Jones Management fearing they would be unable to accomplish an "event-style" promotional drive, indefinitely delaying the release. Before promotion was suspended, Romo made headlines for throwing Baby Doll off the stage after being bum-rushed by her.

The song received its official radio premiere on October 31, 2010, and full time promotion began a week later. To appeal to new audiences, Romo has proposed to create a musical version of the film Birds of a Feather, made nice with Moodring after giving them a hard time in the early part of the year, and granting her first interview in months to gossip blogger Trish, in which she dived into the deeper reasons why she feuds with other acts.

Throughout the course of the promo, Romo's stunts included threatening a TSA agent after having to go through a full body scanner at an airport, appearing on Spanish-language variety show Sabado Gigante, and dancing with Betty White. She also expressed a desire to form her own backup band following Bichastasia's success with her backing band The Bichettes.

Romo's drunken antics took several unusual turns. While partying with Ben Johnston and Victor Strong on the set of their music video, she got extremely drunk, got Ben and Victor extremely drunk, and engaged in a three-way sex session with them. She later claimed she was interested in dating Ben, although to date no news of a relationship has been made public. She somehow managed to stumble into Taylor's recording studio and, despite a long-standing feud with him, recorded the duet "One More Drink" for his Pass Me By 3 re-release.

Most notably, the single's era is known for Romo ending her yearlong feud with Paulo Araujo. She deemed it hypocritical for her to attack his musical experimentation when she was taking a similar career path, and admitted to enjoying his latest song at the time, "The Hunger". The two slowly but steadily patched up their differences, to a point where they plan to collaborate in the studio.

Romo gave the song's first performance during the penultimate URAPS Idol: Second Chance results show, in which the top 2 finalists were decided. The song was also performed on the Christmas Chart Show as a medley with album track "Pandora Kills".

Romo embarked on a 10-day mini-tour to test the new album's material and scaled-back visuals in advance of an upcoming arena tour. The mini-tour was supported by Vinyl Dolls, who joined Romo on stage at their December 23 show at Brixton Academy to perform a set of Christmas songs.

On Friday, April 8, 2011, Romo debuted a new verse to the song during a live performance that criticized viral video sensation Rebecca Black and her song "Friday".

Music video
The video for "Music From Mars" was filmed over a period of three days in Manchester, England and premiered on VEVO on December 17, 2010, marking the first time Romo premiered her video online before its first television broadcast.

The video is highly influenced by Trigger Happy TV and the works of filmmaker Spike Jonze (most prominently, Fatboy Slim's video for "Praise You"), both in production style and use of surrealism. Romo summarized the concept as "a surrealist vision of the life of a typical popstar, in which the life surrounding around her is highly choreographed and nothing is what it seems to be."

The video begins as Romo plays the piano on top of a platform suspended by a crane. She steps off the platform, receiving a text message saying an alien invasion is coming. Several costumed aliens come out of nowhere to bring down the platform, crushing the piano to pieces as they "feed" on it. She then walks to a newsstand to buy a tabloid, but the vendor walks away from the stand and leaves her standing there. As she seats herself on a bench near the stand, she notices several costumed characters engaging in bizarre stunts, such as a dog beating down and mugging another dog. She then moves forward to a car dealership fronted by a large inflatable spaceship, where more costumed aliens are present and mime shooting lasers at her with plastic phasers that do nothing, leaving her wondering what's going on.

As the song moves into its first rap portion, Romo walks down a busy Manchester street with a group of backing dancers, imitating the dance moves from Fatboy Slim's "Praise You" video. The moves include dancing on top of passers-by, who appear either confused or angry at the dancers when shown on camera. Spliced between the dance sequence are shots of several children - and costumed gorillas - attacking cars.

Once the song moves into the autotuned portion, Romo stands alone and disoriented to symbolize a weakness. She is then interrupted by a chorus of high schoolers in an obvious parody of Glee, who are kicked and beaten by costumed squirrels after singing a verse from Eels' "Novocaine For The Soul" (the song which plays in the background of the squirrel sketches from Trigger Happy TV). Romo continues to appear helpless and alone, trying to grab the attention of a group of party kids in a disco telephone booth, but is ignored.

Between the last verse of the autotune section and the second rap, Romo pays tribute to the popular "phone sketch" from Trigger Happy TV with an obscure self-parody of the POPSTAR 2 era, in which Romo watches a performance from her alter ego Hannah and shouts, "Why does she think singing about having huge breasts and drinking booze makes her sound so great?" Romo said the segment was intended to satirize the perceived lack of lyrical depth on the album's songs.

During the second rap portion, Romo and her dancers continue dancing on the street, but the dancers are attacked by costumed pandas, as Romo flees the scene as fast as she can. At the very end of the video, Romo sits on the bench where she was in one of the video's first moments, as a costumed alien rubs his hand against her head as if to "possess" her. The camera pans out to reveal costumed aliens on every corner, symbolizing that they have successfully "invaded" Earth.

Reception
The video for "Music From Mars" was praised for its DIY ethic, abstract visuals, subtle humor and its stark departure from Romo's previous visual output as well as the current trends. A BBC Chart Blog reviewer wrote of the video, "Romo's latest music video yet again shows the singer's skill in the craft of unpredictability."

More critical reviews, however, said the video was "jumbled" and "too much like Romo's other videos". Possibly the most intense critic of the video was Dom Joly, star of Trigger Happy TV, who criticized it as being "cheap, tacky and blatantly unoriginal".

Controversy
Before patching up his differences with Romo, Paulo Araujo accused her of plagiarism for lifting many elements of the song from his #1 single "Vocoder".

In October 2010, Thorn City member Georgina Summers accused Romo of falling behind the times, prompting Romo to retort that she made major personnel changes following the failure of her single "Bathroom Entourage" and the rise of immensely successful newcomers such as Thorn City and Midnight. Romo also generated negative attention for saying she was happy that her rival Ryan Dawson committed suicide.

The blogosphere also criticized an interview in which Romo related the rise of Midnight to the fictional career of Belle Ball, warning Midnight not to follow the character's path or else she would become "a suicidal recluse", hinting the singer's sudden rise to superstardom could be toxic to her life and well-being.

Chart performance
With three weeks to go before its release, "Music From Mars" entered the download charts at #13, making it the second highest of her week after Moodring. In its second week, the song dropped to #18 due to the rush of Christmas releases, but ranked higher than Moodring; the following week, it rebounded to a new peak of #7. It has since reached a peak of #2, beaten by the debut single by pop trio Ace Rejects, "Top Of The World". The single also reached #22 on the airplay charts.

Following a close three-way battle, "Music From Mars" debuted and peaked at #1 on the Urapopstar Top 40 Singles Chart on January 2, 2011, becoming the first #1 single of 2011. With this, Romo earned her seventh career #1 single, becoming her first chart-topper since her collaboration with Amy Marshall, "Game Over!" in February 2010, and her first solo #1 single since "Nocturnal Emission" in January 2009. It also marked Romo's first lead-off single to debut at #1, and earned her the highest first-week sales for one of her lead singles, with 92,702 copies sold in its entry week. It also went on to become her first platinum single since "Bait & Switch/Hell Is A Discotheque" from a year earlier.

However, the song went on to become Romo's lowest-selling lead single to date, selling a total of 270,163 copies in its chart run.