Raw and fresh

It’s raw, it’s fresh. I think a lot of people would be quite shocked. It’s not the typical direction people might expect from me.

Keisha Buchanan's words about her up-coming album in this interview.

Keisha Buchanan - Fearless

This is a leak of a solo recording from Keisha Buchanan. The song isn't particularly interesting and the full version seems pretty repetitive. But it's still good news - it suggests we are going to see some pretty impressive vocals when her solo album finally appears.

So which was the best Sugababes line-up?

We've been polling on this question for a few days and votes are trickling in.

Surprisingly, the original line-up is leading the contest. I say surprisingly because the greatest success and the greatest hits came when Heidi joined the band - when Freak Like Me and Push the Button stormed the charts.

Okay it's not that surprising. We know that young as they were, the originals were three talented young women. Unrecognised as she is, Siobhan has proved herself a talented song-writer. It seems that many of the songs on the under-stated One Touch album were written by the girls. What could they have achieved if they stuck together? Sadly that required commercial success - and that involved handing their fate to others.

Personally I've got mixed feelings. In the face of public opinion, I maintain that Change was the greatest and most perfect album. Yes, that's the next poll! But I was stunned by One Touch from the time when I first heard it, several years after it came out. It was so different from the overblown pap and synthesised absence of melody that characterises most pop music. And really Angels, with its double number one, five singles and two classic live performance tracks should be acknowledged as the best.

Sugababes - Change

I began thinking of this song yesterday. It's a great song and it's mainly Keisha. She could probably do it solo comfortably. And it sums up the story - Change. There was always going to be change. The Sugababes have lasted much longer than any other comparable band - if there were comparable bands. Change isn't necessarily bad. It's just different. Things are "never gonna be the same again". A great solo performer is about to emerge from the ashes. And there will be reunion performances and they'll be great events.

Sweet7 - to buy or not to buy?

I'm struggling on this. I really don't want to spend the money on something that I'm not going to enjoy. But it's now a matter of conscience - having downloaded Sweet7, the new version, I ought to pay for it. Besides, a portion of the royalties will go to Keisha, who has some song-writing credits, I believe.

The album's getting uniformly bad reviews. That's no surprise. Catfights and Spotlights had mixed reviews - even though it was an authentic Sugababes album. There's a clutch of reviewers who've never liked the band and cannot be bothered to listen properly.

Who are the legal Sugababes? goes to court

Back in October, I asked Who are the legal Sugababes?

Keisha was made to sign all sorts of legal documents but what about Mutya and Siobhan? It was a good question, one that Mutya herself was pondering, it now emerges.

It's now been reported Mutya's filed a suit to recover the name. Here's the ITN version of the story. Keisha and Siobhan are said to be involved in the action as joint owners of the name.

Wait for You - new version. It's simple maths.

Some of the leaks of the new Sweet7 have been blocked on YouTube but this version of Wait for You is still up.

You can compare it with the original which we posted back in November.

The difference is stark and clearer than on any of the other tracks. This is a vocally challenging song.

In the original that's not obvious. Led by Keisha, the band effortlessly and beautifully achieve the pitch and harmonics. In the new version it is obvious they're struggling.

This is good news! It's good news because it's simple maths and it highlights what Keisha and the other individual members have contributed to the group over the years. Let's list what this lays to rest.

No More You - version 2

And here's the version of No More You from the new Sweet7 album by the Sugababes Tribute Band. It's still a good song - and sung well. But it's now very different. As this wasn't on the leaked sampler of the original, Keisha version of the album, we'll never know exactly how the recorded versions differ.

Sweet7 is shaping up to be an album of great songs - different from the earlier albums but it could have been another Sugababes classic. Jade has a good voice but compared with Keisha it's bland and her singing style much too influenced by X-Factor. I've listened to one or two other of the new tracks and the harmonies lack the depth, the Wow factor we've been used to.

No More You? Yes, no more Keisha, no more Sugababes. What we have instead is a decent girl band lucky to be gifted some good songs.

No More You!

This is great!

In September the Sugababes launched this track at a couple of gigs. I guess it will be on Sweet 7 but sadly it's not on the sampler, which has Keisha rather than Jade.

Amelle was absent during these gigs leaving Keisha and Heidi to perform. The track is mostly Keisha Buchanan and was a magnificent swansong. The recording is the official MSN one and is better quality than the other YouTube versions. Here's hoping it's a sign of what's to come on Keisha's solo album.
* I've now renewed the video clip as quite a few have been deleted from YouTube.

Wear My Kiss!

Here it is - the third single from the unreleased seventh (or eighth) album, Sweet7. It's not bad, now stripped of the last of Keisha's soul but a decent pop song and a decent video, especially for a third single.

This is what should have been done on earlier albums - when good tracks bombed because fans bought the albums - which were always exceptional. Think of other great third singles: In the Middle, Red Dress, Change.

Wear My Kiss

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