The Promise (4:03)

“The Promise” is a song performed by British all-female pop group Girls Aloud, written and produced by Brian Higgins and his production team Xenomania. Released as the first single from the group’s fifth studio album Out of Control on 19 September 2008,[2][3] the single became their fourth number one on the UK Singles Chart. “The Promise” won Best British Single at the 2009 BRIT Awards, Girls Aloud’s first win at the prestigious ceremony.

Background and release

The backing track for the song was composed by two Australian musicians, Jason Resch and Kieran Jones, who would later play the song for Higgins.[4] Higgins and Miranda Cooper, afraid they’d “ruin the moment”, waited weeks to write the song’s lyrics; they wrote the song in seven minutes.[4] As soon as Girls Aloud heard the song, they decided it should be the first single from Out of Control.[4] The day before the song was due to be delivered to Fascination Records, the entire backing track was ditched and replayed.[4]

“The Promise” premièred on Switch on BBC Radio 1 on 14 September 2008,[5] and has been described by the band’s website as a “stormer of a track”.[2] Originally scheduled for release on 27 October 2008,[2] the release was inexplicably brought forward a week.[3] Girls Aloud performed “The Promise” on Jo Whiley’s Live Lounge, as well as a cover of Timbaland and OneRepublic’s “Apologize”.[6] Nadine Coyle was not present, as she was ill with shingles.[7] Sarah Harding had originally wanted to perform “Sex on Fire” by Kings of Leon.