Sugababes talk about their new image for single Get Sexy

Sep 10 2009 Flintshire Chronicle

What a difference a couple of years make – in the life of a girl band, anyway.

Two years ago, Sugababes were busy settling in new member Amelle Berrabah and promoting their latest album Change.

“We both had advice for her back then, and Heidi was great because she knew what it was like to join the band, but also how I felt having someone new come in,” said Keisha, the only member of the original trio left in today’s line-up. “We told Amelle some things about the business, but really, until it happens to you it’s hard to explain.”

The last comment draws a knowing laugh from Amelle who, since joining Sugababes, has been a regular fixture of the tabloids for her love of a good night out or incidents related to her rocky relationship with ex-boyfriend Freddie Fuller.

Today, though, there’s no air of “new girl” around her – this latest Sugababes incarnation is very much a triumph of equality.

They’ve all got plenty to say about their latest batch of music, including current single Get Sexy, and a new approach. For their past six albums (Sweet 7 is due in November), the band have co-written their songs but this time around they decided to let the songwriters come to them.

“Even though we weren’t writing, we ended up being so hands-on,” explains Keisha. “There’s always been a pressure in the past to come up with songs from scratch in the studio, so it’s been great not having any ego about it, just letting new people come in and put their ideas to us.”

The change in the way they work is down to a number of things. Signing to an American label for the first time, and one as glamorous as Roc Nation, has allowed the girls to attract some of the biggest and best songwriters from across the pond.

Sweet 7 will boast songs from producers RedOne, who recorded most of Lady GaGa’s album, and various songs with Rihanna, Stargate – the unit which provided Beyoncé with recent hits, – and Ryan Tedder, frontman of OneRepublic and co-writer of Leona’s Bleeding Love.

Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, the disappointing performance of their last album, Catfights and Spotlights, meant something had to change if Sugababes were going to continue as Britain’s biggest-selling girl band.

“We got new stylists, auditioned a new band, got a new choreographer (Beyoncé’s), who has changed the way we dance and move. Once we started hearing the new tracks, we started getting our confidence back,” says Aintree-born Heidi.

“You have to take criticism on board, especially constructive criticism. The band’s been going for 12 years, and there are going to be ups and downs. We’re just proud we’ve been relevant for that long. We are especially proud of this new album, though, and we’ve got a new energy.”