Upon release, "Black Magic" was acclaimed by music critics, who welcomed Little Mix's new '80s influenced sound. "Black Magic" was likened to Cyndi Lauper's " Girls Just Want To Have Fun" song by several music critics for its "falling in love" refrain. Talking about the song's message, the group said that it is "Basically that we are the girls with the secret potion and we're going to give it to all the other girls that want to get the man they want to get" with Pinnock adding that "It is a metaphor for having confidence to get your man". The group's vocal range in the song runs from G# 3 to E 5. The song has a quick tempo of 112 beats per minute and is composed in the key of E major.
The song's rhythm is influenced by the sounds of the 1980s dance music. It was written by Edvard Førre Erfjord, Henrik Michelsen, Ed Drewett and Camille Purcell, and was produced by the production duo Electric, who previously worked on the group's second studio album, along with Matt Rad (add.). "Black Magic" is a dance-pop and teen-pop song, that runs for a total length of three minutes and thirty-one seconds. Problems playing this file? See media help. It was released as a CD single in Europe and Japan on 24 July.Ī 17-second sample of "Black Magic", where Little Mix sing the first part of the chorus of the song.
The single was released digitally in the UK on 20 May. "Black Magic" was scheduled to premiere on 26 May, but was later moved forward to 21 May, after the single leaked online the day before. The single's cover features the group in front of red school lockers with the group's logo featured above the group in a yellow colour and the title of the song below in white. On, Little Mix revealed the song's title to be "Black Magic", after the single's cover art surfaced on music identification service Shazam. However, the tweet was deleted shortly after it was posted. The song's title was accidentally revealed by member Leigh-Anne Pinnock's mother on Twitter on 21 April 2015 by tweeting "#MixersAreExcitedForBlackMagic yesss mixers it's the new single and it's fantastic". They also said that their album was delayed due to the fact that they wrote a whole album but scrapped it, because they thought "they could do better". They described the song as "a risk" and said that it is completely different from what they've done before. In February 2015, Little Mix revealed that they had chosen the lead single from their third studio album and also said that it has a "whole new sound". The group said that the new album is "stronger" and will be about relationships and that is also better than their two previous albums, DNA (2012) and Salute (2013). On 4 July 2014, Little Mix announced that they would cancel the US leg of their second concert tour, The Salute Tour, to focus on recording their third album. Jade Thirlwall talking to Digital Spy about the song. We wanted to change the game a bit, and 'Black Magic' is very pop." The Salute campaign was a lot darker and a bit more R&B that's why it took so long because we were looking for something that would surprise people. "We always like to do something that people wouldn't expect us to come out with. The song was nominated for Choice Love Song at the 2015 Teen Choice Awards, and for British Single of the Year and British Video of the Year at the 2016 Brit Awards. As of 2021, the single has been certified triple platinum in the UK by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) and gold or higher in ten additional countries, including diamond in Brazil. On the Billboard Hot 100, the single peaked at number 67, becoming the group's highest-charting single to date in the US. Outside of the United Kingdom it peaked within the top ten in Ireland and Australia, and charted in sixteen additional countries. The song remained at number one for three consecutive weeks, becoming the first single by a girl group to spend more than a single week at number one since " About You Now" by Sugababes in 2007.
"Black Magic" topped the UK Singles Chart, becoming the group's first single to reach number one there since " Wings" in 2012. The song received critical acclaim from music critics upon release, who praised it for its catchy sound and upbeat tempo, and comparisons were made with the songs from their debut album, DNA (2012). " Black Magic" is a song recorded by British girl group Little Mix, released through Syco Music and Columbia Records as the lead single from their third studio album, Get Weird.