Out of Your Mind

This is perhaps the most fascinating artifact of UK garage's brief mainstream crossover moment, not least because of the story around it — pipped to number one by Sophie Ellis-Bextor's "Groovejet" in one of the more dramatic chart battles of the era. But stripped of that context, what you have is a track of genuine quality: the production tight and shimmering, that characteristic two-step bounce carrying an almost yearning melodic line that gives it more emotional complexity than its club origins might suggest. Dane Bowers brings a smooth R&B vocal style that was well-established from his time in Another Level, and the interplay between his register and Victoria Beckham's cooler, more brittle delivery creates an interesting contrast — warm against cool, pleading against self-contained. The song is about obsession and intoxication, the particular madness of being unable to stop thinking about someone, and the production mirrors that with its relentless forward movement, the beat never giving you space to breathe. It belongs to a very specific geography: late-night British television, pirate radio in South London, the last hour before closing time in a club where everyone is sweating and no one wants to leave.