Album- Sweet 7
Artist- Sugababes
Sugababes have been one of the leading girl groups in the
UK, with six number ones, eighteen top ten singles and over 8 million records
sold in the UK alone. However, the group have also been more prominently known
for their line-up changes, with the current line-up of the group featuring none
of the original members of the group. As the group are reported to be releasing
new music later this year, I take a look at their last critically and
commercially unsuccessful album (compared to previous releases) and see just
what was wrong with that record and what the group should do with the next
album, or whether they should just maybe call it a day.
Track 1- Get Sexy
Sweet 7’s lead single was the last single to feature the
last founding member of the group Keisha Buchanan before she left the group
before the album’s release. Co-written and produced by major pop star Bruno
Mars, the song is a vibrant electro and dance pop song that features an
interloping of Right Said Fred’s ‘I’m Too Sexy’ within the chorus. The songs
lyrical content simply finds the girls telling us of how they are sexy and
apparently too sexy for this club. The song’s lyrics feel stupid and a bit
egotistical, only really working if you want a song to listen to the make
yourself feel a bit better about yourself. The vocals are simple with a fierce
but sensual edge and some nice harmonies, however the vocals are too heavily
distorted in places and so just come across as annoying. The production is
sleek with club ready, hand clapping beats and stomping synth based rhythms,
but nothing about this song feels original and doesn’t come across as fun in
the way that it should, and so by the end you will be happy things are over
because you firmly get the message.
2.5/5
Track 2- Wear My Kiss
Keeping in line with the sexual quality of the previous
track, Wear My Kiss was the records third single and is another fun pop track
with electronic rhythms, although things are slightly lighter sounding and less
club driven for this song. Here we find the girls bringing out their sexy
personas once again by saying that this boy will want to wear there kiss,
comparing themselves to things such as watches, shoes and ties. The lyrics are
similar to the previous track in terms of their silly and bland quality, although
the lightness of the chorus makes things catchier. The ‘da da da’ hook however
is really annoying. The singer’s vocals blend together nicely but sound better
in the verses where they give us solo performances, as the chorus has an
annoyingly robotic feel. The production is sleek with a punchy beats and a
vibrant energy that is a bit infectious, but it still feels like stereotypical
pop.
3/5
Track 3- About a Girl
The first of the group’s singles to feature newest member
Jade Ewen, About a Girl is a stomping Europop track produced by hit song maker
RedOne. A slight departure from the groups previous sound, the track finds the
girls singing on a base of club synthesisers and featuring a 90’s house middle
section. However whilst the production is simple and dance driven it is not
exciting and just comes across as bland. The song features the girls telling
this person that they don’t about a girl and what they like, a bland statement
that’s fuelled by clichés and which features an annoying ‘oh oh hiya eh oh oh’
hook. The vocals blend together nicely but are Auto Tuned and just feel
lifeless, and so as the first track from the new line up this was a really bad
song to start with.
2/5
Track 4- Wait for You
Another electro pop stomper, this song changes things up a
bit as for once the girls aren’t blandly talking about being sexy or a girl but
instead give us a loved up track where they simply are apart from this person
but feel so strongly about him that they will wait for him. The song features
some nice, more delicate vocals in the verses, whilst the chorus is really
powerful, with new member Jade Ewen showing she is a good addition to the group
simply because he voice is really powerful and really makes this song feel
forceful and emotional. The potential heartbreak and love of the song makes
things much more interesting, and although the lyrical content is quite
repetitive the simple quality of the statement ‘I’ll wait for you’ makes the
song catchy, and here we don’t have an annoying hook. Plus whilst the production
is simple electro pop territory with a stomping bass and heavy sound, the
record overall just feels more appealing as it is more attention grabbing, and
the song nicely ends with some simple, soft guitar strumming.
3.5/5
Track 5- Thank You
for the Heartbreak
A snappy electro pop number that has a slight 1980’s electro
vibe, this song finds the girls in a feisty and almost feisty state of mind in
which they firmly shake off this ex-boyfriend and thanks him for the heartbreak
that was felt at the relationships end, because now the girls are so much
better off. The concept is nice but as a whole the song doesn’t have the true
feistiness that it should and also employs some annoyingly clichés such as
finding strength on the dance floor and with music. The girls blend together
nicely vocally and there is some nice, smooth vocal ad libs, but the track once
again feels bland through the use of Auto Tune and just feels like a girl group
singing a track rather than making the song their own. And whilst snappy the
production just stays on this one level that becomes quickly boring.
2/5
Track 6- Miss
Everything (featuring Sean Kingston)
Jamaican American rapper Sean Kingston comes on board for
this light pop tune that continues with the albums electro pop style but also
has slightly more of a summery vibe compared to the other songs. The track
finds Kingston talking about the girls as these woman who like the finer things
in life such as jewellery, whilst he also sings of loving these girls. The
Sugababes then just provide us verses which live up to what he is saying, and
how you have to give them what they want if they want a relationship. The song
is fun lyrically and is a concept that is light and enjoyable, although it
borders upon being egotistical. However
the track just feels bland as both Kingstons and the Sugababes vocals are
heavily Auto Tuned and feel utterly boring. The techno melodies and stomping
beats of the production are typical of the record but feel a bit more fun than
some of the other tracks, and so this could have potentially been a better
track if the vocals weren’t so bad.
2.5/5
Track 7- She’s a Mess
The tempo is driven up a bit further with this track where
the girls speak of this girl who just loves to party and drink alchohol, but at
the end of the day she is a bit of a mess and it isn’t good for her. The track
features a cool ‘everybody go mad, everybody go psycho’ hook that is spoken by
member Amelle Berrabah in a very British sounding accent. The production also
has slightly more of a frenzied dance vibe that is kind of infectious and feels
fun. Yet once again the vocals are extremely processed and just sound dull
because of this, and you just think what were the producers doing when creating
this track???!!!!
2.5/5
Track 8- Give It to
Me Now
With a slightly funkier groove and more lighter, mid tempo
pop sound, this song finds the girls in a sensual frame of mind where they tell
this guy that he is all talk and if they really want them they should just go
for it and ‘give it to me now’. The song has a bit of a cheeky quality that is
fun, and the song for once features vocals that are nice and light, showing of
the girls harmonies nicely and just sounding as fun as the lyrics do. The
production also features slightly less of an electro pop track and is a bit
more acoustic, with some handclapping beats and simple drums mixed with some
nice use of horns. A bit more like past Sugababes music that feels better than
the other offerings we have had, at least in terms of the vocal quality.
3/5
Track 9- Crash &
Burn
The first ballad of the record, this song lyrically focuses
on this car metaphor where the girls sing fo this relationship where things
have really just gone wrong and now everything is over because both parties
have lost control, as if they were driving and have now crashed. The metaphor
is a bit interesting but ultimately ends up being clichéd and feels like a
stereotypical heartbreak song. The vocals are blended together nicely but don’t
really imbue the song with this true sense of emotion. And the production of
the track features a simple sound with a slight pop rock feel in terms of the
drum beats, with the guitar strumming and electronic beats further just adding
to the songs power. But yet the sound is just another stereotypical quality of
the track, and so this is once again an offering that just comes across as
lifeless.
2.5/5
Track 10- No More You
Co-written by Ne-Yo, this RnB tinged ballad that finds the
girls singing about this guy who played games in the relationship, and now the
happiness is gone and there is just no more of this guy. The songs lyrics feel
more emotionally astute and have a classic RnB vibe about them, although the
‘oh oh oh na na’ hook of the chorus is just annoying. The vocals feel more
tightly structured and find each singer giving us powerful vocal performances
but also blending together nicely. And with the simple production with the
snappy drumbeats and piano melody with the slight electronic tone, the track is
definitely one of the finer moments on the record.
3.5/5
Track 11- Sweet &
Amazing (Make It the Best)
This track continues the record on a softer level, but
things are lighter and hopeful with the lyrical content of the track, and the
song also has more of an acoustic setting. The lyrics simply focus on how life
can be sweet and amazing if we make it so, a lyrical message that comes across
sweetly even if it is one massive cliché. The singers harmonies are really nice
and make the song feel more truthful, and with the acoustic quality of the
track with its handclapping beats, steady drumbeats and light piano notes, this
track definitely feels quite powerful, and only suffers because it feels so
unoriginal.
3/5
Track 12- Little Miss Perfect
Ending the track on a very stereotypical level, this song is
a simple pop ballad where the girls sing of thinking that they gave there all
in this relationship but yet things haven’t gone right, and now they’ve been so
focused on moving on they just feel lonely and realise they aren’t perfect. The
song has pure emotional quality in the lyrics that are powerful, and each
member brings really strong vocal performances to the track that sound fragile
and vulnerable. Keeping the production quite simple with just the piano and
then building the sound with drums and strings makes for a an impactful and
stirring ballad, and so although this to me is potentially always a bad way to
end a record because ballad finishes are so typical, the band actually have
proved me wrong in that this is probably the best track on the record. Although
that may just say something about the quality of the other songs.
3.5/5
Final Review
This album definitely does not live up to its Sweet 7 title.
It is a really bad album that finds every track terribly suffering from clichéd
lyrics, annoying vocals and commercially bland production, with only one or two
tracks being truly appealing. It is a good thing the group have taken a break,
and I just hope they really bring their A game and produce some truly good
music with the next album.
1.5/10
Best Track- Little
Miss Perfect
Worst Track- Thank
You for the Heartbreak
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