Little Mix have never lacked confidence, that’s for sure, but for their fifth studio album they tap into a whole new found empowerment that unlocks a sassy and playful side to the girls. ‘LM5’ is a bold and personal journey of self empowerment that also explores the society uprising in equal rights. But in this tactical shift they have compromised their original sound with a new electronic pop production that experiments with RNB and hip hop elements. They’ve tried to grow their upbeat and carefree sound by adding more volume and BPM’s but instead they’ve kinda just pushed some of their long term listeners away. They really do reach towards that arena-ready sound with songs like ‘Think About Us’, ‘American Boy’, ‘Motivate’ and ‘The Cure’ which have those classic girl group moments. But the strongest moments on the record come from when they don’t hold back and give you little ridiculous and unexpected quirks. ’Strip’ is the first of the standouts with its hard hip-hop flavour that interpolates with an electronic pop beat that takes over the chorus. It reminds of early Pussycat Dolls with it’s sexual tension and pure empowerment that embodies throughout the whole delivery. This then perfectly transitions into ‘Wasabi’ which holds onto a similar vibe and adds in a rock moment that layers throughout the electronic beat. Playing off that band experimentation, ‘Love A Girl Right’ and ‘Told You So’ have a more wholesome approach with their guitar strumming and smoother harmonies before stripping it all the way back for ‘Monster In Me’ where they discover a raw vulnerability. I wish there was more stripped back moments in this collection because the complete sonical re-haul was a little unnecessary but it does show a strong minded new side to them which is very important in this current state of society. Thomas has written this review for Sanity.