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Not that it matters for the purposes of pop, since here it's really just a metaphor for the battle of the sexes and the general idea that men and women struggle to communicate on the same level as each other (see: never let anyone tell you that pop music can't be deep and introspective when it wants to be). Besides, since it was too obvious a cue to miss, a French version of the song has been arranged as a b-side for this release (called 'Je Ne Parle Pas Français', though under the circumstances perhaps 'Je Ne Parle Pas Anglais' would've worked better.)

There was some mumbling at ChartBlog towers when 'Tangled Up' came out, concerning the marked change of direction from 'Chemistry'. Gone was the envelope-pushing electronica, and instead was a shift to a slightly more grown-up pop that borrowed a few more of its ideas from the indie world. I remember noting around that time that this song's opening riff is not entirely dissimilar to that of Sleeper's .

Some saw this as a slight betrayal on the Aloud's part, when they've carved out such an effective niche as pop pioneers; personally, I don't see the harm in diversifying as long as they remember that absolutely no one wants them to become Razorlight or anything silly like that. That their recent tracks have seemed a little mellowed and less frantic (the borderline ADD of 'Sexy! No No No...' notwithstanding) is perhaps just symptomatic of them all reaching a sort of pop maturity where they're less interested in continually trying to break new ground than they are taking what they were already very good at and honing it to a degree of perfection.

Poncy philosophising aside, is the song any good? Well, for what it's worth I've blown hot and cold on this track since the album came out. It was originally one of my most-played tracks, only to hit a bit of a fallow period a few weeks later when I started sticking 'Damn' and 'I'm Falling' on heavy rotation instead. But I decided to listen to this with fresh ears (I washed them and everything) when it was announced as the next single, and it really is a very classy and sophisticated pop song.

Its chief flaw is its lack of a killer chorus - as good as the lyric "I can't speak French, so I let the funky music do the talking" is, the melody behind it is perhaps a little too uninterested and repetitive. Surprisingly, it's more the bridge here that stuck in my head with its solemn but insistent pleading. And of course let's not forget the odd but compelling extension of words like "wa-ii-ii-iit" and "ni-ii-ight" in the first verse.

As single choices from the album go, it's perhaps not the strongest (personally I long for the day when the Girls have the chutzpah to release a song like 'Graffiti My Soul', 'Swinging London Town' or 'Fling'), but it 's a fitting centrepiece between the band's edgier, punkier songs and the more grown-up direction they seem to be heading in, without forgetting to give that metaphorical envelope a good old nudge at the same time.

Download: Out now
CD Released: March 17th

(Steve Perkins)