The Sugababes pull into a garage.

Music Some quick news while I wait for the Muller Hearings. The original Sugababes lineup are reforming to celebrate their 20th anniversary:

"In a statement to Metro, DJ Spoony confirmed Sugababes had recorded the track for Garage Classical, which is out on September 6. He said: "At the time when UK Garage was in its prime the original Sugababes were one of the biggest pop bands in the country. I know Keisha and Mutya personally and I know how much they’ve always loved garage because they were always at events like Twice as Nice back in the day."

So that's nice.

Sugababes announce new album.

Music  Siobhan's announced that she Mutya and Keisha are releasing a new album next year.  Even as the world fall down around our feet, it's good to know that some things are as reliable as they always where, not the actual album, of course, but the announcement that there's going to be a new album.

Speaking to Wandsworth Radio (which is a brilliant detail) during the local LGBT+ Pride, a date has been set, preparations have been made. Here's the main quote. See if you can spot the most interesting part of the story:

"Sugababes have got a record coming out next year. I can’t tell you the exact date. I know, but I can’t tell you. It’s next year."

Not MKS, Mutya Keisha and Siobhan, but Sugababes. Does this mean they're re-obtained the name somehow?  Am I going to have to through and change all the labels on these blog posts?

Anyway, seventeen years later, we dare to dream again.



[via]

"Shaznay, you worked with Mutya Keisha Siobhan on their comeback a few years ago ..."

Music The All Saints ID interview also yields this on the topic of the proper Sugababes:

Shaznay, you worked with Mutya Keisha Siobhan on their comeback a few years ago. From the outside, how did you view the dynamic of a girlband getting back together after a difficult falling out?
Shaz: I was really happy for them! Before we were even signed to London Records, when Mel and I first started All Saints, the people we initially worked with went and found those first three girls, Keisha Siobhan and Mutya. We've kind of done the same path as them so for me to work with them was lovely. Their voices together have a distinctive sound, like ours. I enjoyed seeing the three of them back together. Loved it. I champion those girls.

They'd be good to tour with.
Shaz: Yeah!
Mel: They would actually…

Sob.  Oh sob.

Bip.... Bip.... Bip....

Music After six months of inactivity, Mutya Keisha Siobhan's Facebook page was quietly updated today:



The references to "heart failure" and "life support" in this context is interesting considering the title of their only release so far in this incarnation.  "New team!" "Amazing album!"  Does that mean that there's now some zombie album knocking around which was deemed unreleasable or some such?



Of course it's possible they're just rereleasing Flatline to coincide with the new Doctor Who story of the same name.  Yes, it's probably that.

A Broom.

Music Right then, time for another one of these. On Digital Spy (where else?), Amelle talks about the chances of "Sugababes" reforming. She's still up for it (of course she is) but she's sure Jade isn't and Heidi's "half and half". Then there's this:

"If it doesn't happen, it's not meant to be," she continued. "Obviously everyone talks about the Sugababes name and what is happening with it, but I'm very easy-going.

"If we don't use it and regroup, I'd quite happily give it someone else and let them take the reins. Whether it be MKS or another three random girls, or three little babies we're training right now in boot camp!"

The bootcamp reference is to Tumble, I suspect, which is the thing everyone watches waiting for Doctor Who to start. Three things on this:

(1) If I was MKS I wouldn't touch their old name with a mile long stick. Too much history, plus it'd mean whatever they finally come up with in terms of an album would be stuck after Sweet 7 in discographies and on Spotify.

(2) The three random girls thing is probably the way to go and especially in keeping with the history of the Sugababes. In fact, given that history it should probably be Amella and two other people. Probably Jenny Frost replacing Heidi in yet another girl band now she's homeless.

(3) Anyone else wonder if an earlier Doctor to Capaldi, probably Tennant, would have used the Sugababes instead of a broom as a reference point during that scene in Deep Breath?  No?

Planet of the Spiders.

Music Video evidence that Mutya, Keisha and Siobhan are back together recording. Or at least they're together and afraid of spiders:

Bit Touching?

Music Looks like MKS are recording again, whatever that means. Through the magic of Twitter and Keisha retweeting things we have this:

Harmonies harmonies harmonies today with @siobhandonaghy @MutyaBuena @keisha_buchanan bring on tomorrow's sesh!
— One Bit (@onebitmusic) July 31, 2014

This Instagram featuring music which sounds new though its vintage isn't clear and ...

Just a normal convo this morning with Mutya lol http://t.co/XDvUyXm8P1
— Keisha Buchanan (@keisha_buchanan) July 31, 2014

Can we get together properly this time? Please?

Sugababes 1.0 return?

Music After the record company seemed to cruelly dump their first single onto the market so that it's title gained a cruel irony and the oddness of what had all the wheft of an album tour without an album to tour, Mutya Keisha and Siobhan went unusually quiet. Ish.

Their Twitter feeds in particular went unusually quiet at least for them for at least a month but in the past week, they started buzzing again.

Siobhan's Twitter feed's been relatively busy with felicitations to friends and the odd shot of the three girls but there was the worrying moment the other day when she tweeted a publicity shot for Revolution in Me which is thick with scary symbolism but anyway.

#tbt Revolution In Me - 2003 tour pic.twitter.com/xSxEKf2BMe
— siobhan donaghy (@siobhandonaghy) May 15, 2014

Not that it seems like a reason to worry really. The week before on the ninth, Mutya did this:

With my sexy ladies last nite pic.twitter.com/5fbxy6KBPS
— Mutya buena (@MutyaBuena) May 9, 2014

Which is, well, it just is, isn't it? Then Keisha said this earlier today...

Feeling dizzy with a headache & no voice! I'm never drinking Vodka again!!! & I blame my little wild cat sister MUTYA 😩😩
— Keisha Buchanan (@keisha_buchanan) May 19, 2014

Which clearly means they're still talking to one another.

Now Popdust have posted that "new gossip reports in the British papers" (which haven't turned up on Google News yet) (or anywhere else) suggest that the three have changed their management, moved record label and have appropriated the Sugababes name again (in a capacity perhaps more than stationary) and are planning another come back this Summer. Cue the "source":

"“The girls have changed label, got new management and are getting ready to release their new single in the summer as Sugababes. It’s been a messy battle legally but MKS are now no more.”"

Given that this is a single blog post and there's nothing about anything anywhere else, I'm reluctant to head to far into the speculation zone, but given the hash that was made of last year's relaunch, there's no lack of logic here, other than to do with contracts and copyright and what Heidi might think about all this. Anyway, I'd be quite happy to not have to call the Sugababes the "Sugababes" again but I wonder if the name's too tainted now. Though it's also fair to say that we've all spent the past two years calling these three the original Sugababes anyway.

"major subject areas"

Photography In surprising move, Getty Images have made 35 million of their images embeddable on blogs, websites and the like for non-commercial purposes. As a way of testing this new service, here's a selection covering some of this blog's major subject areas.  The top one is in Sefton Park.












Keisha seems happy about it all at least.

"How could carry on with out her?"

Music During one of our regular clearouts, I found some old Guardian G2 supplements acting as packing for an old clock. Glancing through to see which period of history they were from, I inevitably found this:



It's from 26 April 2002, the week Freak Like Me was released.  A week later it was at number one.  They're still so young! Would they ever have imagined twelve years later that two of them would be waiting for another album to come out and the other one would be touring in Happy Days: The Musical and none of them still in the Sugababes.  Technically.  Apparently.

The article itself is actually an old Guardian column in which celebrities chatted about the art which was meaningful to them and their profession, so the Sugababes 2.0 talk about music with Keisha and Mutya listing their favourite R&B and Garage bands and Heidi joking about how such things haven't reached Liverpool yet as though Liverpool in 2002 was entirely cut off from the rest of the planet and Mary J Blige, Aaliya and Brandy weren't in the HMV on Church Street.  Or the Virgin Megastore in Clayton Square.  Sigh.

Oddly enough I nearly met these three at that Virgin Megastore a couple of months later when they were in there signing the second album, Angels With Dirty Faces.  But I was entirely disenfranchised from the whole thing after Siobhan left, very "How could carry on with out her?" and "This isn't as good as New Year, what have you people done to yourselves?" so simply glimpsed them from afar.  Speaking of regrets...

On the same day in April, this blog was all about a trip to the cinema, where the only other people in the auditorium were couples at the back being recreational, while I watched 24 Hour Party People then Bend It Like Beckham before visiting Wagamama for the first time.  Those were the days when I had about three readers none of whom I'd actually met in real life ...

MKS NME

Music "Hey enemy!" MKS reminded us that they're still a thing by playing the NME Awards last night offering backing vocals to Metronomy. Keisha's clearly thinking, "Well I mean they're fine but they're no Elvis."

Review 2013: Not The Doctor: Mutya/Keisha/Siobhan's Flatline.

Music One of the greatest disappointments of the year wasn't Flatline itself, which is a tremendous single, but the fumble over its marketing. Initially announced on the 4th June, a one minute preview was posted on Soundcloud on the 13th June with the whole song posted on the 4th July to much rejoicing, because it is a tremendous single. Then nothing. The girls continued giving interviews including a Google+ hang-out, tentative performances but no word on when the single would be released. A very good lyric video was posted to YouTube within a few weeks and a month later a pretty terrible video that worked against the sound and message of the single and was actually worse than said lyric video. In the meantime, online music emporiums (iTunes, Amazon and Spotify) were flooded with inferior copies or "tributes" and karaoke versions. Presumably because of the lack of sense of anyone knowing what they were doing, despite a few broadcasts, the single wasn't playlisted in any kind of meaningful way.  Eventually announced for release on the 1st September, Flatline was then delayed again to 15th September, then brought forward to the 6th September, a Friday and a non-traditional release day because of its proximity to chart day and only on iTunes.  It inevitably tanked, peaking at 50 in the UK.  To make matters worse, it's sort of happening again.  The girls are out there, touring, playing old and new songs but the release of the album, essentially the album which under normal circumstances would be the point of touring, hasn't been mentioned.  Perhaps it'll be released next year.  Maybe.

Caught In Another Moment

Music For completion sake, YouTube channel Reload Sessions have uploaded three performances from MKS, a cover version of Lorde's Royals, the really strong No Regrets from the new album and for group historians Caught In A Moment from Three with Siobhan covering Heidi's bits in that slightly triumphant way she has.

Still on Overload.

Music The Official chart website has a cute interview with MKS on the topic of their first single Overload, which includes a trivia quiz about the songs which beat it in the charts and a retrospective look back at Sugababes songs they missed. Example:

"Mutya left in December 2005, just before Red Dress was released as a single. The track was the third to be taken from their Number 1 album Taller In More Ways, and had to be rerecorded with new member Amelle Berrabah for release.
Keisha leans forward conspiratorially. “Mutya HATES that song!”
“Do you know what?” drawls Mutya. “I can’t lie, I hated it with a passion.”
“I think the different songs suited the different line-ups, didn’t they?” suggests Siobhan.
“Yeah,” agrees Mutya. “I mean it’s a good song…”
But just not ‘for you’, Mutya?
Mutya: Hmmm."

Now that the "Sugababes" have apparently split up, I'd say the the whole back catalogue is fair game for picking, choosing and rediscovering. Something like "About You Now". Despite everything, I do really like "About You Now".

the long haul

Music The release of MKS's Flatline was strange. Promoted for what felt like months beforehand, knocked out on a Friday and only available through iTunes when dozens of "tribute" versions are on sale and streamable through other venues, its lack of chart success isn't unsurprising but nevertheless disappointing. The astonishingly average promo video didn't help either.  I don't know about airplay though to be honest, so permanently does my radio dial oscillate between Radios 3 & 4 neither of which were like to playlist it.

Such inconsistencies are somewhat explained by Digital Spy's interview with the band, the team, the three, published on Tuesday in which Keisha says something (relatively) interesting:

"I don't think our song got lost on the radio. I think there were certain things that happened behind the scenes that couldn't be helped. Our goal was to put a song out that people liked and we think we've done that. If we wanted to record an easy throwaway hit then we would have put something out back in 2010 after we first met up. We didn't because we won't compromise our music and we're here for the long haul. Also, it's all about the album really and not just the singles for us."

Shenanigans, again, then.

MKS, A&R.

Music Worth it for Susanna Reid's reaction to public transport, but not for the Sofababes bit. That's embarrassing.

Sugababes are over then.

Music Jade's gone rogue then. Just as MKS's Flatline is released (though only on iTunes it seems, Amazon and Spotify just have the remix EP), the Ewan's decided she can't stand's no more:

"This is a tricky one because I don't feel comfortable lying, saying we're in the studio recording and we're going to bring music out next year, which seems to be the favoured line," she said. "I think it's unfair to fans and we should be honest.

"The band being over is definitely not my choice. I kind of was unlucky in that I came in [to Sugababes] towards the end of the cycle when things naturally came to the end.

"There was so much drama surrounding the group, I think the music just got lost. I don't like all the drama and the negativity. We kind of fizzled out about two years ago."

That's that then.  Until it presumably isn't.

"It's important we remember we were kids."

Music As we continue to mark time until something is officially released, here's Mutya, Keisha and Siobhan's Observer interview. Mostly it goes over the usual ground:

"Consider the she-said-she-said, at least as it played out in the press. Keisha once told Touch magazine that Siobhán had ditched the band, back in 2001, by going to the loo and never coming back. "After three hours we thought she's been in there a bit long," Keisha was quoted as saying, and this repeatable bit of fiction tailed Siobhán for a decade. Siobhán, for her part, once admitted: "We just didn't get on." When Mutya left the band Keisha said: "There was love there but no friendship". Siobhán, in 2004: "It was all hate, hate, hate."

"Well, our mums always got on," Siobhán tells me, over lunch.

"Even when we didn't," says Keisha.

Of mean statements in the past, they agree, "It's important we remember we were kids."

And that toilet thing, says Mutya, "was quite funny."

Siobhán: "But it kind of gets old after a while."

Mutya: "Yeah."

The accompanying photos suggest the photographer had been to a Pre-Raphaelite exhibition the day before...

On Heat.

Music Heat Radio's interview with MKS. Asks them about the toilet in Japan, which let's face it was fifteen years ago. Spends some of its duration trying to grasp how close they are now and what they think of other bands and whether they even like Sugababes 4.0. It's interesting to note how people's relationships with each other do change. Compare what Siobhan said in that Ponystep interview in 2009 with this reality and the current attitude and there's been some obvious sharing of information about that time and what sounds like a proper reconciliation.  Which is good.

Vortisaur.

Music Rubbish. Rubbish. Boring. Rubbish. Amazing! Amazing! Amazing! Fellini! Amazing! Magic hour. End. Which is a needlessly critically mixed response to the Flatline video, especially since when these three were recording as the Sugababes, the promos were always simplistic. Overload saw the three of them singing into camera in a white void (insert Whole Again reference here). New Year was roughly the same but with pastel colours and bits of line drawing. Run for Cover was living rooms and couches and streets and alleyways just as this is beaches and deserts. Soul Sound was a plushly furnished flat in a state of recursive occlusion.

The problem, I suppose, is that which afflicts many amazing songs, that the video rarely lives up to them.  The intention was perhaps that the whole thing look like it'd been shot on an iPhone with an Instagram filter switched on, in which case it succeeds at that, and there is a sense that anything "flashier" than this would be wrong too.  Does it succeed in selling the song?  Not as well as the lyric video but the song sells itself anyway pretty much.  I expect there's more to it than what's actually on the surface in terms of creative choices.  In this, the comments underneath the YouTube upload are instructive and surprisingly rational particularly this from MarkehJLL:

"Guys, they're three women in their late 20's who are trying to make a comeback under a completely different name from the one that they're famous for. I doubt their record label was willing to pay for a full-on expensive music video. I personally prefer this to some music video shot in a studio because it seems more authentic, just like their music."

It's shot and directed by photographer KT Auleta which would to some extent explain the aesthetic too.  Plus it's the exact opposite of this, and that has to be a good thing.

Updated Later. Here's something which might explain something about this video. There are surface similarities with the promo for the Sugababes's single About a Girl:



Apart from the leathery fashions, it looks like the desert scenes were shot in the same location and there's a car. But to an extent it's almost as though the director of the Flatline video set out to create almost anti-matter version of this, with deliberately verite shooting and editing, no obviously choreographed dance numbers, sort of thrown together rather than slickly directed and where the About a Girl has guns and violence, Flatline has a marching band. Just make things even more interesting, the wikipedia notices this:

""About a Girl" is the first single to feature vocals by band member Jade Ewen, following the departure of Keisha Buchanan in September 2009."

In other words, is there some subliminal symbolism at work here. Is Flatline, the The Shining of pop videos?

Updated Even Later.  PopJustice has posted their verdict:

"Mutya Keisha Siobhan’s ‘Flatline’ is a sad song about the end of a relationship wrapped up in a pretty melody. Siobhan’s first verse is about a drunken argument and the chorus is about a relationship dying, before Mutya sings about the fact that even crying through all the pain won’t make it right during the second verse.

"All this makes the sun-dappled, Instagram-filtered, beach-modelling, arm-waggling, high-fashion video – which ‘premiered’ at midnight last night/this morning/whatever – pretty baffling, the whole thing screaming ‘WE’RE NOT MOODY AND ALOOF ANYMORE YOU GUYS’ while losing a bit of what makes them special."