One Touch by Sugababes
One Touch is the debut album by English girl group Sugababes (in the line-up now known as Mutya Keisha Siobhan), released by London Records in the UK on 27 November 2000 and the following month in most other European territories. The trio worked with producer Cameron McVey on the majority of the album, which produced four Top 40 hits, including the hit "Overload", and "Run for Cover". Despite peaking at number 26 in the UK Album Charts and being certified Gold by the BPI, and faring even better in German-speaking Europe, where it reached the top ten in Austria, Germany and Switzerland, the sales of One Touch did not meet London Records' expectations, and the group eventually got dropped in Autumn 2001, making it their only release with the label. In addition, it became the group's only album with the group's original line-up. Siobhán Donaghy left the group in 2001. She initially stating that she wanted to pursue a fashion career, but was eventually diagnosed with clinical depression amid reports of in-fighting between the Sugababes members. In a March 2009 interview with Ponystep, former Sugababe Mutya Buena revealed that she thinks One Touch is the band's best work and that she still listens to it. Donaghy has also stated in a separate interview that the album had been "ahead of its time." In January 2012 Emeli Sandé confirmed on MTV news that she is in the process of writing songs for the original line up of Sugababes. On 21 July it was confirmed by all 3 members that they had reformed under the new name of Mutya Keisha Siobhan, or simply MKS.
There’s never been a British girl band quite like Sugababes. When they first emerged at the turn of the millennium, their insouciant attitude was an achingly cool antidote to the hyperactive maximalism and primary-coloured pre-teen pop (think Steps and S Club 7) that had ruled for so long. Sugababes’ coolness came straight from their founding members: Siobhán Donaghy, Mutya Buena and Keisha Buchanan. Still teenagers (15 and 16) when <i>One Touch</i> was released in 2000, the three had undeniable chemistry. Each had a distinctive voice, as well. Donaghy was angelic, Buchanan was bright and forceful and Buena delivered the grit and soul. When brought together, it all melted into something akin to aural nirvana. And <i>One Touch</i> was hardly the work of manufactured music industry puppets. Out of the 12 songs on Sugababes’ debut album, the band members co-wrote nine—including the distinctive debut single, “Overload”. That song remains a high point for early-2000s British pop: built around a now-iconic bassline and relentlessly shuffling drums, the intricate and windy production is pared back, pushing the group’s vocals forward in the mix. Then, out of nowhere, everything drops out to make room for a surf-guitar solo—only to swing back around for a momentous final chorus and the band’s signature ad libs. The complexity of “Overload” wasn’t a fluke and, in the decades since its release, the rest of <i>One Touch</i> hasn’t lost any of its unexpected sophistication. The UK garage stylings of “Same Old Story” and the smoky trip-hop of “Lush Life” are still charged with electricity, while the gothic “Run for Cover” is every bit as haunting as it was in 2000: “You never seem to wonder/How much you make me suffer/I speak it from the inside,” the band members sing on the chorus, their harmonies as tight an an impenetrable barrier. Of course, this iteration of the Sugababes—dubbed “the Origibabes“ by fans—would be short-lived: Donaghy left the band in 2001 and was replaced by ex-Atomic Kitten member Heidi Range. Still, the magic of that original lineup would linger, even as the group slowly imploded. Then, in 2013, the founding members reunited, eventually reclaiming the Sugababes moniker. After decades apart, the sacred three were together once more.
