Thursday, 25 July 2013

Sugababes- Sweet 7 Album Review


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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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