Background and Composition
"It was written for another artist signed to my manager Gary’s own label. Her name is Kirsty Roper. Gary was looking for a major record label to take her on and he went to London Records and played the song to the head of London, Tracy Bennett. Tracy didn't want to sign Kirsty but did want the song for All Saints as the second single after ‘Pure Shores’. We went back and forth for a few months, not sure if it was going to get cut, and then William Orbit produced and it just ended up sounding fantastic. The demo was actually completely different to the outcome."
—Writer Tom Nichols behind the story off "Black Coffee".The song was co-written by Tom Nichols and former Miss UK Kirsty Roper, a solo performer signed to Nichols' manager Gary Davis' label. It was originally written for Roper and once demoed, the song was played by Davis to the head of London Records, Tracy Bennett, in the hope of getting the young artist a major label deal. Bennett liked the song and wanted it for All Saints. Nichols said the final version of the song, as produced by William Orbit, ended up sounding very different to the original demo. The song was recorded in Los Angeles, California and London, as conflict between the girls arose.
Writer Nichols credits the song as his major songwriting break. Unknown at the time of it being cut, he has since gone on to write for Kylie Minogue, Jessica Simpson and Sugababes. In an interview with HitQuarters, he had said after the release; "The moment ‘Black Coffee’ got released, the phone just started ringing and didn't stop. The difficult part is obviously getting that first cut."
Kirsty Roper's career was temporarily on hold after her marriage to Swiss entrepreneur Ernesto Bertarelli. After raising three children, in 2010 Universal Records launched her first album Elusive in Switzerland, her country of residence. The album, including her own version of Black Coffee, went straight into the top 20 in the Swiss charts.
"Black Coffee" has been noted with similarities towards their previous single "Pure Shores". But musically, the song features electronica, trip-hop, dance-pop, R&B and adult contemporary elements. Although the lyrical content has not been explained, critics and fans alike had said the song talked about a broken relationship. According to tabs.ultimate-guitar.com, the song has key notes for the song. In the verse, the song features Bm7 and E notes. In the chorus, the song features E-Bm-D-A-E-Bm-D-A notes, until the next verse starts. Siobhan Grogan from NME compared the song to their previous single "Pure Shores" by saying " Like 'Pure Shores' before it, this too is touched by the hand of William Orbit, and has the same mellow, glossy haziness to it, as if they recorded it lying down." Nigel Packer from BBC Music described the song as a "pure pop successor". Neil Hannon from The Guardian said "It's got all these weird, whooshy keyboards, these sinister verses which are slightly dislocated from each other, and then eerie harmonies taking you up to the chorus."
Read more about this topic: Black Coffee (All Saints Song)
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