Yahoo! Music Album Review

Released on 10/10/05
Label: Island

As hard-wearing as boat varnish, Sugababes sally forth with a fourth album unlikely to fail in following its two predecessors to multi-platinum status. They (or at least their handlers) are as calculating as they appear on the sleeve with their cocktail dresses and Mona Lisa smiles. They know that widescreen appeal depends upon a careful balance of sluttiness and saintliness. So, if you pursue a chap ("Obsession") it's also good to let him do the running sometimes ("Push The Button"). It's OK to lust after a married man ("Joy Division") as long as you profess to want to have a hubby of your own some day ("2 Hearts"). Please the teens, by all means, but remember it's the mums who do the buying.

An army of pop governors are on hand to help them maintain this even keel, including Dallas Austin (TLC, Madonna, Pink), Guy Sigsworth (Madonna, Britney Spears) and Cathy Dennis. Opener and current single "Push The Button" is the Shangri Las updated for the 21st century - the age-old tale of girl waiting for boy to notice her (and beautifully phrased vocal performance from Keisha) updated with references to one's "sexy ass" and perky, fizzing, ultra-contemporary studio wizardry.

"Red Dress" comes from the same hit-breeding stable as "Round Round" and "Hole In The Head", while "Ugly" sees the trio thumbing their noses at people who made them feel unattractive at school (Mutya - "different eyes and hair"; Keisha - "short"; Heidi…er, the song falls down here because Heidi"Obsession" - originally recorded by Animotion in the 80s. Killingly brilliant then - even better now, the three women rounding with gorgeous, perfumed menace on the song's subject like "Sin City"'s gun-toting Valkyrie-hookers: "I will have you/Yes, I will have you".

Their voices remain some of the most listenable in pop, individually recognizable even when stitched together in tight harmonies: Keisha's honeyed purr, Mutya's slightly hoarse, unexpectedly light tones and Heidi's full-throated Las Vegas diva number. Part of their amiability also lies in the everyday vernacular inserted into their lyrics since "Overload". "Is this a wind up?" they ask. "I'm dropping hints/But you're still not getting it". It makes them girls who talk the same talk as their target audience - if this sounds like a small consideration, consider the irrefutable fact that if James Blunt's "Beautiful" had not included the noun "subway", there wouldn't be quite so many knives out for him.

"Taller In More Ways" is as much, and as little, as you would expect. Sugababes don't break ground - they just walk all over it.

    by Anna Britten