The Sugababes have had one of the rockiest roads we’ve ever witnessed in the pop landscape. Having already lost two members – Siobhan Donaghy in 2001 and Mutya Buena in 2005 – the group lost their final remaining original member Keisha Buchanan in 2009. Buchanan’s departure was a complete surprise and many expected the newest member Amelle Berrabah to get the boot. Within days the group announced that former Eurovision hopeful Jade Ewen was to replace Buchanan leaving many critics to point out that there were no longer any original members in the Sugababes. Regardless the girls carried on with promotion for their next single About A Girl before Amelle announced she had exhaustion and needed to step away from the band. Many doubted the Sugababes could continue but against all odds the latest line-up appears to be thriving. Having achieved two Top 10 hits (About A Girl and Wear My Kiss) the group releases its latest album, the much-delayed Sweet 7.
Regardless of whether the Sugababes are really the Sugababes anymore, the group still knows how to put out a damn good pop album. In recent weeks we’ve read bad review after bad review of the album and upon actually hearing it for ourselves it’s apparent no one has really properly listened to the record. If they had they’d see a group that has been through extraordinary change and come back fighting. Yes the Sugababes may not have the same indie cool they once had but in its place is a shiny pop persona that has its finger firmly on the pulse of modern music. We’re not afraid to say that Wear My Kiss is the best Sugababes single since About You Now. Sexy, sassy and pulsing with electro-beats the track is pure pop bliss.
So what does the new Sugababes line-up really sound like? Well in short fantastic. Jade Ewen’s addition to the group has given the trio a powerhouse vocalist (and we’re sorry Keisha fans but Jade has a much stronger voice). Her diva warbles perfectly complement Heidi’s higher register and Amelle’s husky tones. We’d go as far as to say that Jade is the best vocalist the group’s ever had (with Mutya coming a close second). No More You moves the Sugababes into proper ballad territory and it’s hard to imagine any of the previous line-ups being able to pull of the vocals needed to carry the track off. Jade shines as her powerful vocal drives the track to its climax.
Sweet 7 is more uptempo than previous effort Catfights and Spotlights and it’s much better for it. The rock-tinged Wait For You could easily be a smash hit as could the auto-tune filled She’s A Mess (complete with Amelle trying her hand at rapping). Next single Crash and Burn strips the music back to basics and lets the girls' voices shine whilst closer Little Miss Perfect is a stirring and emotive way to end this solid album.
The album’s highlight is the dancefloor anthem Thank You For The Heartbreak. The group has been performing this song a lot over the promo for Sweet 7 but if it’s not a single at some point then we’ll head over to Island Records ourselves to slap the Babes’ creative team. The effortless cool and catchy chorus makes the song a Sugababes classic.
Sweet 7 is a surprising record that deserves more credit than it’s getting. The Sugababes may have gone through a lot of change but as far as we can see they’re stronger for it. Sweet 7 is a record filled with pop perfection and we say long may the Sugababes continue. With Jade as their new secret weapon these girls are not going out without a fight.
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Finally a review of the album that seems to have actually spent some time listening to music on the album, rather than moaning on about the lineup change.Jade is clearly a much better vocalist and dancer than Keisha, and im sure we can all understand it becomes impossible after a sustained amount of time to work in conflict. Hence the lineup change.I have heard all the tracks and seen some of them performed live, the beauty is that the more electronic sounding tracks can be stripped back acoustically when performed, which gives the songs so much more depth.Great album Girls, will definatly be buying it when it is released!