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"Criminals" is a song by American singer-songwriter Meghan Trainor from the deluxe edition of her sixth major-label studio album, Timeless (2024). Trainor wrote it with songwriters Tyler Johnson and Josh Kear, and her brother Justin handled production. The song became available as the deluxe edition's second track on August 16, 2024, when it was released by Epic Records. Sony Music released it as the deluxe edition's lead single on September 20, 2024.

"Criminals" was initially intended for inclusion on Trainor's third major-label studio album, Treat Myself (2020), but failed to make the cut after she rewrote the album to make it a pop record that feels relevant in an era when hip-hop reigns. The song gained popularity after becoming the opening theme for the 2024 Netflix miniseries The Perfect Couple. She included it on the set list of her 2024 concert tour, the Timeless Tour.

Background

Meghan Trainor began recording songs for her third major-label studio album, Treat Myself (2020), while still recovering from her second vocal cord surgery. She wrote a track called "Call Us Criminals" with songwriters Tyler Johnson and Josh Kear. In January 2018, Trainor stated that it was her favorite song on the album, which she called her "best work yet" two months later. As Trainor rewrote Treat Myself four times, to make it a pop record that feels relevant in an era when hip-hop reigns, "Call Us Criminals" failed to make the final cut.

Trainor returned to her doo-wop sound on her fifth major-label studio album, Takin' It Back (2022), after the song "Title" attained viral popularity on video-sharing service TikTok in 2021. The album included the single "Made You Look", which went viral on TikTok and became her highest-charting single in years. Trainor continued the sound on her sixth major-label studio album, Timeless (2024), which was a doo-wop and bubblegum pop record. "Criminals" became available as the album's deluxe edition's second track on August 16, 2024, when it was released by Epic Records. Sony Music sent the song for radio airplay in Italy as the deluxe edition's lead single on September 20, 2024. She included it on the set list of her 2024 concert tour, the Timeless Tour.

Composition

"Criminals" is two minutes and 34 seconds long. Trainor's brother Justin produced and programmed the song, and he engineered it with Andrew Wells and Bo Bodnar. Wells and Taubenfeld play guitar. Johnson, Kear, Bodnar, Trainor and her brother Ryan, and Daryl Sabara provided background vocals. Trainor handled vocal production, Randy Merrill mastered the song, and Jeremie Inhaber mixed it. Wells provided additional production.

In the lyrics of "Criminals", Trainor acknowledges that she has behaved in a bad way but intends to repeat this, and she addresses a partner as her best one ever: "Lock me up cause I've been bad, and I know I'll do it again / You're the best I ever had, I'm guilty, I confess." Trainor continues to discuss a romantic relationship in subsequent lyrics and believes that the satisfaction it brings her must equate to a crime because of how good it is: "Anything that feels this good / Well, it must be illegal, it must be illegal, illegal."

Inclusion in The Perfect Couple

"Criminals" appears as the theme song in the American mystery drama miniseries The Perfect Couple. Susanne Bier wanted to incorporate a dance sequence with the show's cast into its opening sequence, and she liked "Criminals" from a list of songs sent by the music supervisor. Charm La'Donna created a choreography set to it. Bier believed that the repetition of the words "Call us criminals, criminals" would lead viewers to speculate even more about who might be the culprit in the plotline's murder. Trainor expressed excitement about its inclusion in the show and the dance sequence: "It has been a life long dream of mine to have one of my songs be used as the intro for a show and to have this many icons dancing along is just too good to be true." Many cast members objected to the dance sequence and even created a WhatsApp group to avoid doing it, but they ended up enjoying it after the filming.

Capital's Katie Louise Smith believed the song succeeded in fulfilling Bier's intention and stimulated viewers to think more about the perpetrator of the murder: "It worked out perfectly to set the tone of the entire show. The routine serves as a perfect closer for the series too." Dusty Baxter-Wright of Cosmopolitan referred to the dance routine and "Criminals" as "both catchy and a little bit jarring". Writing for Glamour, Stephanie McNeal stated: "Every time the song and dance routine would come on, we'd groove on the couch, attempting the moves (badly) and singing the song. Predictably, the song soon got hopelessly stuck in my head."

Credits and personnel

Credits are adapted from the liner notes of Timeless (Deluxe).

• Justin Trainor – producer, engineer, programming
• Meghan Trainor – lead vocals, background vocals, songwriter, vocal producer
• Tyler Johnson – songwriter, background vocals
• Josh Kear – songwriter, background vocals
• Andrew Wells – engineer, guitar, additional producer
• Drew Taubenfeld – guitar
• Bo Bodnar – engineer, background vocals
• Ryan Trainor – background vocals
• Daryl Sabara – background vocals
• Randy Merrill – mastering
• Jeremie Inhaber – mixing

Charts

Release history

References

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23. Yossman, K. J.; Malkin, Marc (September 5, 2024). "Nicole Kidman, Meghann Fahy and The Perfect Couple Stars Started a WhatsApp Group to Protest Opening Credits Dance Sequence: 'The Entire Cast Had a Mutiny'". Variety. Retrieved September 10, 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
24. Rowan, Iona (September 8, 2024). "The Perfect Couple Cast Protested Against Show's Dance Sequence". Digital Spy. Retrieved September 10, 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
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Category:2024 songs Category:2024 singles Category:Meghan Trainor songs Category:Epic Records singles Category:Songs written by Meghan Trainor Category:Songs written by Tyler Johnson (musician) Category:Songs written by Josh Kear Category:Television drama theme songs