Monday, March 22, 2010
Why the Bombing of the Sugababes 4.0's Sweet 7 is Perhaps the Greatest News Ever
Listen, I love the Sugababes. They weren't as easy to get into as Girls Aloud, but I'm glad I finally "got" them. 'Push the Button' and 'Freak Like Me' are two of the past decade's greatest singles. 'Ace Reject,' the best song they have ever recorded, exemplifies everything I love about pop music. Hell, I even love Catfights & Spotlights, an album that most Suga fans are rather meh about. But, ever since listening to Sweet 7 a month or so ago, I have been secretly hoping for it to bomb big time and hasten the demise of this Frankenstein version of the 'Babes. Why, you ask? One reason and one reason only:
I love Jade Ewen. A lot.
Let's ignore for a second Sweet 7's general shitness, especially in comparison with the leaked Keisha versions that appeared online back in October or November. Instead, I want to talk about how being in Sugababes 4.0 is holding Jade back from a potentially amazing solo career. The Sugababes always worked because the women all had good voices but no voice overshadowed anyone else. Jade's voice, on the other hand, is much stronger than Heidi and Amelle's so, to compensate, she has to hold back. Besides, her voice isn't suited to the group's recent adoption of middling American-sounding pop; she does her best work letting her voice explode all over a song, not constraining it to a throaty, talky growl.
Right before Sweet 7 leaked online, a couple of Jade's unreleased tracks from prior to her jail sentence with joining the 'Babes found their way online. Originally, I didn't think anything would come of them, but, lo and behold, they are magnificent pop gems, way better than anything on Sweet 7. My favorites from this batch were 'My Man' and 'I Had Him First,' two surprisingly fierce uptempo tracks that recall Toni Braxton's 'He Wasn't Man Enough' and Whitney tracks like 'I Wanna Dance With Somebody.' Needless to say, I was really digging Jade's sound, but then came another unreleased track, 'Punching Out,' and my love for her grew exponentially. It became clear that the biggest crime regarding this latest incarnation of the Sugababes wasn't the fact that they were still using that name despite not having any original 'Babes left; rather, it was the fact that Jade was forced to slum it in this dying group instead of promoting her solo career.
Now that Sweet 7 has bombed this past week, I hope that everyone realizes that it's time to end the 'Babes with their dignity and good name intact instead of trying to resuscitate them in hopes of milking a Top 10 single from the brand name. The Sugababes were amazing in their day--very few girl groups can touch them--but the further they dilute their original sound so they can become as manufactured as so many American pop acts, the more people will start to turn on them. Leave the Sugababes alone and let Jade have the solo career she so rightfully deserves. She already has half an album ready of great songs. Don't believe me? Give 'I Had Him First' and 'Punching Out' a listen below:
Posted by Dame James at 4:45 PM
Labels: god save the british, jade ewen, pop music, sugababes
