Sugababes Update

Keisha Buchanan (far right in picture), the only original member of Sugababes remaining after two line up changes over the past decade, has left the group according to many media outlets. She is being replaced by Jade Ewen, a young singer who represented the UK in the campy European song contest, Eurovision this year. Jade's debut single My Man was released today in the UK. Apparently, Keisha will become a solo artist now. This really saddens me. Rumors were circulating last week that Amelle (far left) who joined the group in Dec. 2005 would be leaving the group, but I'm very surprised to see Keisha leaving. She seemed to be the spokeswoman for the group. She was honest, opinionated, and talkative. Reading her twitter page is quite fun. Music news website Digital Spy reports that the Babes new album, Sweet 7, will still be released in the UK on Nov. 23. Here's what Keisha had to say on her twitter regarding her departure: "Although it was not my choice to leave, it's time to enter a new chapter in my life. I have nothing but positive things to say about the girls and I wish them the best of luck. I would like to state that there were no arguments, bullying or anything of the sort that led to this.

"Sometimes a break down in communication and lack of trust can result in many different things. I would also like to point out that I have always supported the girls and they have also supported me."

She added: "I want to thank the Sugababes fans and my fans for all your support and all who have never judged me, but accepted me for who I am... The feisty, funny, professional, fearless motor mouth. This is not the end... but the beginning!"

(quote and other article info courtesy of Twitter and DigitalSpy.co.uk)

With Keisha, the one constant mainstay in the group since its origins, gone, I don't know who will be the charismatic cheerleader of the group. Heidi Range (blondie in middle) is rather reserved so maybe Amelle can step up. She's got a cool, edgy haircut after all. Jade Ewen can't do it. She needs to prove herself first. She has HUGE HUGE stilettos to fill.

Another thing to note is that the Babes' upcoming single, About A Girl, the second release from the new album is much better than the "meh" Get Sexy. About a Girl is produced by Lady GaGa's partner in crime, RedOne (Fire Burning as well). His style doesn't totally overwhelm the track which can happen when he works with other artists. The song stomps along in the verses then has a chanting, sing-a-long chorus. The best, most sublime pop moment of the whole track is the splendid middle eight from about 2:10 to 2:37. Here are the lyrics for this glorious pop moment:

Girls bring the fun of life,
sugar like apple pie,
take a trip to paradise,
let’s have a party-oh!

Beauty like you never saw,
take your number never call,
bite the apple take your heart,
let’s have a party-oh!

Have a listen. Can you say irresistible kiss-off?



It's a fun, likeable tune that really grows on you. It will be re-recorded with Jade Ewen's vocals. Again sad news about Keisha. Wish you luck, Babes and Keisha.

A Plethora of Pop

Shakira-She Wolf
The beloved Shakira has returned with a funky, disco jam, She Wolf, and here is the video in all its body rolling glory. The video is pretty crazy. I particularly enjoy when Shakira dances in the red sparkly cave in her oddly cut black jumpsuit. Also, the whole thing with her in the cage is fantastic, vampy, and slinky. A good comeback video.

Shakira - New Music - More Music Videos

Sugababes-Get Sexy
Okay, this is a really good Sugababes video. It's really visually appealing. Heidi (the blond one) doing her bit in a room with mirrors and green lights all over creates a very cool effect. Amelle (short hair) vamping it up in a cage. The wall graffitied pink and blue with variations on Get Sexy written. The girls dancing with glitter falling, and the girls chained together by their wrists doing herky jerky movements. It brings another aspect to the song. I still don't think it's their best single, but the video makes it better. Well done, Sugas.

Girls Can't Catch-Keep Your Head Up
Yet another British gal group to herald the arrival of. Ignore the slightly odd name and listen to their catchy electro-pop debut single. The verses are sung deliciously fast. The guitar riffs grind. All and all, a group to keep an eye on. The single was released today. Good luck in the UK charts, girls. Also, I love the concept of the video. Very random.

Madonna-Celebration
Madonna's new dancey single off her Greatest Hits collection is a good summer song. The best part is when she just talks over the beat. It's awesome. Very Confessions on a Dancefloor circa 2005.

Ashley Tisdale-Erase and Rewind
Okay, for some reason a part of me is drawn to Ashley Tisdale. She's not a very good actress and her music isn't that good either, but I thought I might find at least one gem on her new album and I did. Erase and Rewind is not original, her voice is nasal, the song is pop Slice and Bake, and it almost has a sheen to it. That being said: it's a lot of giddy fun. Best parts: "I don't wanna sound desperate but I am" and near the end of the song when everything drops out and Tiz just sings "I don't wanna feel like this, I don't want to" then she proceeds to go up the note scale singing 'Yeah ah ah ah ay" and everything comes crashing back in. I really like it.

Kelly Clarkson-Already Gone
Kels Clarkson's new single is a beautiful, sad ballad. The best lyric is "We were always meant to say goodbye". From the master of piano, drum, synth ballads: Ryan Tedder. Really pretty.

Demi Lovato-Here We Go Again
Demi Lovato is somewhat more legitimate than the Tiz. Demi knows how to rock, and she throws herself into her songs with abandon. I like some of the songs on her new CD which debuted at number 1 by the way. This is the first single Here We Go Again and even though the opening guitar part sounds like the theme song of a nineties sitcom, I still really enjoy the song. She just belts the heck out of it.

Little Boots-Remedy
Little Boots new video is not that interesting sad to say. She needs to move around more, but the song is a wild beast. The chorus is a colossal behemoth. An irresistible tune.

Just Shut Up and Watch Me Walk

Sugababes premiered their new single, Get Sexy, Tuesday on BBC Radio 1. It's not their best single, and it's their least subtle. Sugababes have always had subtler songs than their fellow Brit girl group counterparts, Girls Aloud. They were sexy, sassy dance numbers (Push the Button, Hole in the Head, Red Dress) but they weren't in your face pop smorgasbords. This song is in your face though and very modern. I like the verses and bridge with its churning beat more than the somewhat loud chorus. It has tinges of Pitbull's I Know You Want Me and it incorporates the synths present in many popular songs nowadays. It's flirty, danceable fun, and I think it's a grower. It doesn't scream "Sugababes" though. The lyrics are priceless and fierce especially the terrific line: "Just shut up and watch me walk". The part around 2:24 is quite cheeky and sassy. This is a complete 180 from their underrated last album, Catfights and Spotlights, which had a retro-feel to it. I guess they needed to recreate themselves. The song will be released for download in August with the new album coming in the fall I assume. Get Sexy will be the Sugas first release in the US since their signing to Jay-Z's Roc Nation label. Very exciting!

Get Sexy

Big, big news!

Sugababes new single, Get Sexy, will be played for the first time on BBC Radio 1 tomorrow afternoon at 4:50PM. The single will be officially released on August 31st. Here's what their website has to say:

"New tunes, new style, new hair cuts and new attitude. GET ready to see SEXY!
The babes return with the first single from their 7th studio album this summer. GET SEXY is a slamming dance anthem that sees the girls hooking up with a host of big name producers following their stint in L.A. and the new single shows a new direction for the babes but still with that unmistakable Sugababes sound.
Hear it first on Scott Mills Radio 1 show this Tuesday 7th July."

This is so exciting!

Here's what the pop lovers at Popjustice have to say about the song:

"A new Sugababes single is always a reason to get excited and their new track, 'Get Sexy', is a big, fearsome explosion of a pop record. At first listen it sounds quite aggressive and adventurous which, in a post-'Bonkers'-at-Number-One, post-'Boom Boom Pow'-at-Number-One world, it's really not; pop changes its sound as the years go by and if they're clever so do pop groups. Sonically this is just what the Sugababes needed after the wet Wednesday of their last album campaign - a campaign which despite an album we loved seemed to chime so badly with fans that the band looked like they were on the brink of something not very good at all.

After all that we'd kind of wanted the band to take a year off for 2009 but with one major British girl group notable by absence from this autumn's release schedules it makes sense for Sugababes to storm ahead. Followers of the band's - particularly Keisha's - Twitter pages will have a fair idea already of what's to come from the new album and fans received a surprise this weekend when a clip of 'Get Sexy' leaked online ahead of its Radio One debut tomorrow.

Well, the clip was a very early demo; the clip that leaked gives you a general feel for things but one major change is that while some of the male vocals remain (in the verses' call-and-response portions) the girls now sing the song's a massive bridge, whose lyrics are now based on Right Said Fred's 'I'm Too Sexy': "cos I'm too sexy in this club, too sexy in this club, so sexy it hurts". There's also a fantastic middle eight built around a playful chant of "if I had a dime (dime) for every single time (time) these boys stop and stare, I'd be a billionaire".

It's a confusing listen - to these ears the verses are terrible and trite while everything else in the song is just totally brilliant and exciting. The ups and downs are frustrating;..."

I remember having similar excitement last summer when the first single from Catfights and Spotlights, Girls, premiered. I'm ready for this Sugas!

Loving You Like It Was the First Time

Another British rapper Tinchy Stryder has a new single out in August as well. It's called Never Leave You and it features Amelle Berrabah of the Sugababes and her cool haircut. It's a sweet, very catchy song. The whole song reminds me of the part in Live Your Life by T.I. when Rihanna sings her solo. The synths meld with piano creating a pleasant ditty with a very catchy and addictive chorus.



Also according to Sugababes member Keisha's Twitter post today, the gals new single from their new album will be played for the first time next week on BBC Radio 1. I'm so excited! I hope it's one of their RedOne collaborations.

Music Update!!!

-Sugababes have signed with Jay Z's record label here in the US! This is very exciting news. The girls have waited an awful long time to try to breakout here. They already have six albums in the bag. Anyway, the gals are currently in LA recording their seventh album with RedOne of Lady GaGa and Kat DeLuna fame. This guy is awesome. I love his beats. Sugababes + RedOne is a very interesting combo with lots of potential. Yay Sugababes on US soil! Here's what they posted on their twitter on Friday: 2 tracks done with redone!!!!!!! love it. Next we're feeling a collabo coming on... Any guess's? Cant wait!!!!!!!!! - Sugababes in LA :)

-Little Boots' video for her fantastic song New in Town debuted last week. It's a little bit meh. She doesn't do much. I like her blue dress though. I am officially obsessed with the song though. The chorus is a massive beast of awesomeness. Also, speaking of RedOne, she did a song with him for her debut album. It's called Remedy and I've heard a clip. It's a good melding of their styles. It's not overly RedOne. A true collaboration.



-Fantastic new song: When Love Takes Over by French DJ David Guetta with vocals by Kelly Rowland of Destiny's Child. There are a couple versions of this positively epic club anthem. There's a long one and a short one. The three minute edit doesn't do the song justice. The song just soars especially due to Kelly's great vocals. There's a great breakdown after the chorus (around 1:36). Infectious synth dance madness. Perfect summer song.


-Sean Kingston of "Beautiful Girls", "Me Love", and "Take You There" fame, has returned. His new album will be out this summer. The first single is called Fire Burning and it's produced by none other than RedOne (speak of the devil). This is going to be another massive hit for Kingston. It's one of those songs where you hear it for the first time and you just know it's going to be a beast of a hit. Some choice lyrics from the song are: "She get it pop it lock it drop it, That birthday cake" (birthday cake is an interesting way to describe the booty-inventive), and "She’s fire burning, fire burning on the dance floor That little shawty’s fire burning on the dance floor" (fire burning is a FANTASTIC way to describe a dancing maniac). At around 3:14, the song kind of drops out a bit and Sean just sings much like in Just Dance when the beat drops out for a few seconds then comes roaring back in. Very effective. Well, what a comeback single Sean!

New Sugababes!

The Sugababes have released the video for their second single off Catfights and Spotlights, No Can Do. This video is amazing. It is very smexy and very feminist, and I love it! Also, they all look really glam. I love the part when they walk over the bridge of men and how the men wince in pain as one of the gals steps on them with her super high heels. Also, its very cool how the men are just there to serve the gals (ex. the part when the two guys make themselves like tables). Another great part is at the end when Heidi (the blonde) is going down the line of men with a megaphone. Also, the song is very good too, very old school, but with slight modern touches like the reverb/echo of the horns and brass. The melody and tempo are very upbeat and sunny, but the lyrics are most definitely not. The best part is at the end when they sing: "Don't try and even call me on the telephone, it don't mean a thing cause I'm on my own". This is their hot-men-in-their-underwear-are-jerks-so-we-will-treat-them-as-servants video. Every girl group needs one of those. Brilliant.

Tidbits

-The cover for the new Sugababes album has been revealed. I'm not loving it. It looks like the girls were cut and paste from different locations. Oh well, I'm excited for the album. The second single will be Every Heart Broken.

-The track list for the new Girls Aloud album was in British newspaper The Sun today (October 4). Here it is:

The Promise
The Loving Kind
Rolling Back the Rivers
Love is the Key
Turn 2 Stone
Untouchable
Fix Me Up
Love is Pain
Miss You Bow Wow
Revolution in the Head
Live in the Country
We Wanna Party (Bonus Track)

-I'm liking these song titles. The Sun has heard the album and say: "I’ve had the exclusive first listen to new album Out Of Control and I can report it is yet more pop perfection from the lovely ladies," Oh boy, I'm excited.

News Galore!

Very exciting music news:

-Sugababes new album will be titled Catfights & Spotlights. I love it. Super fierce album title.

-Girls Aloud new single, The Promise, will be played for the first time Sunday night on British radio. This is their first single from their fifth album coming later this fall. I think they could have released plenty more singles from their last album, 2007's genius Tangled Up, but oh well. New Girls Aloud music is super exciting too.

-Super cool Canadian, London-based band, Dragonette, who I posted about a couple weeks ago, are finally releasing their debut album, Galore, in the US on October 28. I'm so excited. The album features such divine songs as Competition, Take It Like A Man, and I Get Around. Their lead singer is the definition of fierce.

-Deeve extraordinaire, Beyonce, will be releasing her third solo album on November 18. The first single, If I Were a Boy, will be released on Oct. 7

-Apparently, Britney Spears new album will be out by the end of the year as opposed to early next year as was expected. The single should be out at the end of November, and the album should be released in December. Super exciting!

-The Saturdays new album will not be called Taking Back Sunday. Darn. It was such a clever title. Now the title is rather lame: Chasing Lights. Oh well.

UK Girl Band Alert

This week saw the release of new music videos from two great UK girl groups. The first is The Saturdays video for their second single Up. The song is absolute genius and with a delightful, stomping beat, and the video improves upon their last, but only a bit. I like the colors and concept somewhat and there's more going on than in the If This Is Love video, but they need to come out with a video with a plot. No matter, they look really good, and the sunglasses and tights are super hip. I love the way they sing "Uhhhppp!"



On to our second group of ladies: Sugababes. The first single from their upcoming sixth album is Girls which I posted here a few weeks ago. The video is fun, and the dancing is good, but the whole flirty part with Amelle and the girl is unnecessary and attention-grabbing. The Sugababes shouldn't have to do things like that in their videos. The girls are having fun, and they all look great.



Fact: Apparently, Sugababes and The Saturdays are releasing their albums on the same day, October 20. This is very interesting and especially brave of The Saturdays. I do love their album title though: Taking Back Sunday. Get it? Because they are The Saturdays.