Here Come the Girls...

To make a long story short...

Let's face it, Change was a bit of a letdown, it exploded onto the scene with the brilliant About You Now and there were a few blinders to be found in the album's first half but aside from that it was just a bit of fluff that didn't live up to the promise of its instant-classic lead single. Well now we have the opposite in Catfights and Spotlights, a weaker lead single with Girls and the most consistent album of the 'Babes career since One Touch. This is a collection of classy mature, mid-tempo numbers and heartfelt ballads. Things kick off on a sunny, sixties vibe with highly pleasing grooves in the form of You on a Good Day and No Can Do before things turn a little darker with the hard-edged Side Chick, the sumptuous Sunday Rain, the unforgettable Every Heart Broken and the tender Can We Call a Truce. Some maybe find it a little sombre, hopefully the majority will see it as a return to the girls debut and enjoy it on its own merits as well an antidote to the 'everything but the kitchen sink', smoke and mirrors of Xenomania-powered Girls Aloud.

If you don't mind a bit of extra reading...

Oh Keisha, she's taken centre stage on the last two album covers in a move that screams, 'I'm head bitch round these parts', her tenure as the most indestructible of the Teflon-coated Sugababes means that she looks like the cat who got the cream on the cover of the girls sixth studio album, Catfights and Spotlights. And it's no surprise that she's feeling a little smug, she has the most creative control on this album with 7 of the 12 tracks being co-written by her fair hand, while Amelle contributes to 3 and shockingly Heidi co-penned just one. All of the girls have always contributed lyrically to each of their albums in fairly equal measures but most often with a veritable bevy of other songwriters. However it now seems that providing sweet harmonies and a smile on the album cover are the main roles that Heidi and Amelle were assigned. Despite this Amelle's presence is often felt with her distinctive and appealing vocals and her self-penned Beware is deliciously dark highlight. When Heidi does appear she sounds sweet but let's just say that if the girls tour with album, she won't have to break much of a sweat.

The album opens with the Boots-sponsored Girls which is probably the least impressive lead single the girls have ever produced but given such classics as Overload, Freak Like Me and Push the Button introduced previous albums, a heavily sampled, auto-pilot, girl power anthem didn't have such great odds. It starts things of nicely with the horns being echoed sporadically throughout the album which seems to present two separate sounds, frothy sixties mid-tempo numbers and more modern, mature tracks. You on a Good Day falls under the former and sees a somewhat awkward juxtaposition between a sixties soul trio musical and vocal style teamed with lyrics about selling rims. However, on repeat listens the ridiculous becomes the sublime and the mix of retro instrumentation and modern sass is fun twist on a familar sound. And the sixties theme continues to second single No Can Do which may startle at first with it's game show opening titles intro but it quickly develops into a slick, sunny 60s groove. One could question its true credentials as a single but it'll suffice until Every Heart Broken get's it's hugely deserved moment to shine (why isn't it the second single? Poor release choices are what stifled Change and are responsible for a new album being released just 12 months later)

As you might have guessed from the title, Side Chick leaves the 60s behind for a modern, hard-edged, piano-tinged dressing down dealt out primarily by Keisha. It's a slick, beautifully harmonised, relationship anthem marred ever so slightly by the odd immature lyric ("the kissing's amazing" "Trying to get my ya ya", these women are in their mid-twenties not teens!). Sunday Rain is darkly dramatic and a touch theatrical as is Every Heart Broken which begins with the simple plinking of piano keys before strings and then a beatbox layer to create a perfect backdrop for cutting lyrics about boys that the girls have disposed of in the past. Beware is both strong and sorrowful set to simple but sharp strings and mixed with a stuttering beat. And Heidi, who's been mysteriously underused until this point, provides a beautiful vocal on Sound of Goodbye which features a layered, emotionally powerful but subtly arranged chorus. And by track 12 there won't be a dry eye in the house as a tender, emotionally raw ballad, Can We Call a Truce packs a punch without resorting to typically slushy sentimentality, "I rehearsed a little speech, but the whole thing got too preachy"

Overall, the girls, or rather Keisha with an occasional interjections from those other two Johnny-come-latelys, have produced a darker, more mature album that goes down smooth with beautiful melodies some sharp lyrics and welcome theatrics as well as faultless and oftentimes breathtaking harmonies and general vocal polish. This is a certainly their most consistently enjoyable album since Three, some tracks are weaker than others, to be sure, but there are no turkeys here. There is, however, a distinct lack of standout, upbeat anthems which means that this album will accompany a typically rain-drenched winter wonderfully with its understated ballads and mid-tempo numbers but it mightn't be on your iPod by the time Boots starts advertising it's 2 for 1 summer special promotions next year. But who knows, by then they might have a new ad campaign with a brand new song for the girls to sample when album number 7 hits shelves.