Little Mix have kept fans waiting for their highly-anticipated 'Think About Us' music video for what feels like an eternity.

Jade, Jesy, Leigh-Anne and Perrie's latest visual was initially set to drop at the end of January but the pop perfectionists held back until the final product was exactly right to releaseit.

Having already described it as their favourite video to date, they sure put a'lot'of work into it and it all paid off because it's a strong, gorgeous statement that positions them in control.

'Think About Us' is the sultry, all-out banger from their brilliant fifth album'LM5', now featuring the one and only Ty Dolla $ign for its single treatment, and its video marks a new moment for the girls.

Directors Bradley & Pablo - the duo behind Dua Lipa's 'Electricity', MNEK's 'Tongue' and Cardi B's 'Motorsport', to name just a few - chatted to MTV UK exclusively to reveal the band's vision, double standards in the music industry, and just'how'Leigh-Anne's boyfriend Andre Gray ended up in the video.

Inspired by the album's "stripped back, confident and feminist" sound, the directors said: "We wanted to help continue their mission to show a version of themselves which felt more authentic or honest."

"It was inspiring and refreshing for us by turning our attention to how we capture this in our execution. It has the same POP qualities but with a more mature, stripped back sensibility."

With less focus on choreography and "super polished" shots, the new video was inspired by the iconic Calvin Klein campaigns of the 1990s, with its "effortlessly sexy" stylingand "candid moments".

The behind-the-scenes shots previously revealed by us show each member in their own set-up to represent the journey of a relationship from the honeymoon phase to the icy break-up, with ice queen Jade giving us'Frozen'chic for the latter.

However, Bradley & Pablo told us about the double meaning of the video, saying:"The initial concept was based around the idea of recreating emotions and sensations that you experience in a relationship that may be lost in a future where certain kinds of intimacy are no longer possible. This idea is reflected in the set which sees contained environments within an industrial space where these things are simulated."

Themes of "paranoia, control and surveillance" inspired the final concept -which the directing duo described as a "collaborative process" - which "show[s] a side of their performance which felt less like a tightly controlled performance and more like them, so we opted not to have them dance."

Alluding more to the concept's commentary on the group's fame, the staging created for the group shots "is based on a Panopticon - a prison design/ system of control, developed in the 18th century by Jeremy Bentham, that meant every cell could be viewed from by one guard without the inmates knowing if they were being watched or not." Come through,Concept Mix!

'Think About Us' follows the unnecessarily controversial (and bloody brilliant) video for Little Mix's 'Strip' and almost immediately received bad press for the sensual scenes previewed in the behind-the-scenes pictures in January, with more outdated sentiments of the 'bad role model' pouring in. Did these comments change the video, at all?

"We find the whole drama a little tedious and unfair but not surprising," B&P told us. "It’s crazy how much backlash there is before the video even came out from the teasers alone!"

"The media loves to demonise female artists ‘as bad role models’ all the time but this is not replicated for male artists - where are the callouts for guys with hypersexuality in their videos? It’s the same old boring ‘boys will be be boys’ gender bias and its gotta go."

"We think good female role models are strong and confident women in control of their own sexuality and what they choose to wear, which is exactly how Little Mix portray themselves."

"They played a huge part throughout the video production - they are definitely in control of how they want to present themselves. The idea women should be oppressed in order to help men avoid accountability is outdated!"

One part of the video that attracted early criticism is Leigh-Anne's solo sequence, which shows her on a motorbike with IRL boyfriendAndre Gray generally just being the most stunning couple of all time.

How did that come about, you ask? Well, it was all her idea.

"It was Leigh-Anne’s idea to feature him and we think it really added to the tone of her performance," the directors confirmed, adding:"His back was a great bit of art direction!"

Well, we certainly agree with that, and can totally understand why 'Think About Us' is the band's favourite visual of theirs to date, as it's truly a moment for them as a group.

Now, the question is: Do ya think about'uuuuuuus'? Yes, we do, Little Mix. Every. Day. Keep slaying, queens!