things through the window. Eventually, when the producers ordered the filming crew to leave the room, the group managed to finish the song. The vocal recording was completed the same day, and instead of taking turns, the five members went inside the isolation booth and recorded the chorus together. Brown commented that for this reason the final mix sounds "spontaneous and full of energy". "Spice Invaders" "Spice Up Your Life" was already finished and ready to be released, but nothing was recorded for the B-side; every other song available had been used in Spice and the group needed a new track for their next single. A session with Paul Wilson and Andy Watkins—the songwriters and production duo known as Absolute—was booked. Because of the limited time and the scarce creative inspiration during the filming of Spice World, Virgin told Absolute to make anything they liked. The duo created "Spice Invaders" by placing four microphones and telling the group to talk about anything they wanted. The conversation was recorded and as Wilson later described it, a "hideous bubblegum" backing track was added to the recorded session. Watkins and mix engineer Jeremy Wheatley, finished the track during the night. It received mixed opinions from music critics. El Hunt of NME placed it at number eight on his list of "The 10 Best Spice Girls Songs", characterizing it as "an absolute train wreck of a pop song", he called it an "under-appreciated gem" and praised Brown's delivery. The Evening Standards Jessie Thompson commented that the song "represents everything they were loved for". On the contrary, Alexis Petridis of The Guardian placed "Spice Invaders" at the bottom of his 2018 ranking of the Spice Girls' whole catalog, describing it as "the sound of a group who could, by this point, get away with anything". Composition and lyrics Musically, "Spice Up Your Life" is an uptempo dance-pop song, with influences of Latin rhythms such as salsa and samba. Critics noted that the song incorporates an infectious melody and "haunting" harmonies, mixed with a piano hook and a "relentless" drum beat, that creates a carnival atmosphere. It is written in the key of F minor, with a time signature set on common time, and moves at a fast tempo of 126 beats per minute. The song is constructed in a verse-pre-chorus-chorus form, opening with an introduction, which consists on the repeated use of the word "la".