The Sugababes travelled to the United States in April 2009, to commence work on their seventh studio album, Sweet 7.

[2] In late April 2009, the Sugababes revealed that they were working with Nadir Khayat, known by his stage name RedOne, on two songs.

[5] The lyrical content makes references to Louboutins and apple pie,[5] the latter of which is sung by group member Amelle Berrabah during the bridge in a "gravelly" style.

[13] Fraser McAlpine of BBC regarded the song as a "dancefloor-friendly tune with an insistent chorus that echoes around your head", and compared it to the group's music from previous years.

[8] Jon O'Brien of Allmusic described "About a Girl" as a "gloriously sassy uptempo Lady Gaga-esque number that stands up next to the best of their back catalog", and named it the "one saving grace" from the album.

[14] Caroline Sullivan of The Guardian admitted that although Sweet 7 was significantly Americanised, the track "escaped with some quirky Britishness intact".

[15] The Independent critic Andy Gill criticised the song as a "generic disco stomper" and regarded it as "vacuous".

[19] Group member Berrabah commented upon their satisfaction with the song's performance in the UK, saying: "We didn’t do any promotion for the new single and it still came in at number eight.

[26] Inspired by a Kill Bill theme,[9] the video was filmed at Vasquez Rocks, near Los Angeles, California on 22 September 2009,[27][28] one day following the announcement that Buchanan was replaced by Ewen.

Later in the video, the businessmen are seen tied together on the ground and the stunt double throws the briefcase, which turns out to be a jack in the box.

[31] David Balls of Digital Spy commended the video, describing it as an "action-packed affair that's nearly as dramatic as the group's own history" and praising its "plenty of slick dance moves and provocative pouting thrown in for good measure".

[32] In a 2022 interview, Buchanan confirmed that she was en route to the music video set when she received the news that she had been replaced.

Following Buchanan's departure from the group, promotion for "About a Girl" was halted when Amelle Berrabah was admitted to a private health clinic in Europe citing "nervous exhaustion"; this led to the cancellation of a scheduled appearance on German TV.

[34] The Sugababes were scheduled to headline the Scottish Royal Variety Performance, although this was cancelled due to "a number of legal issues to be finalised".