The Sugababes are back with their new album Catfights And Spotlights. Same Same sat down with Heidi and asked her is the girls really are as sweet as they sound.

 

“Tonight we rule the world,” sings Heidi Range on the lead single from the Sugababes’ sixth album Catfights And Spotlights. It’s a re-interpretation of Ernie K Doe’s 1973 funk classic and was also the soundtrack for to last year’s Christmas ads for British chemist chain Boots. “Here Come the Girls” seems to herald the arrival of a brasher, more confident trio.

 

The idea to remake the song came from the Sugababes’ record company, and it was the catalyst for the new album, which was otherwise not scheduled to be recorded until next year. “We really loved it so we rewrote the verses and went in to the studio and recorded it,” says Heidi. “After that, the album just happened really quickly, literally in about five weeks. I think it was just the vibe from the song that just set the ball rolling.”

 

Whilst Sugababes have always had an aspect of soul to their music (an early single was called Soul Sound), tracks like second single No Can Do and the glorious You On A Good Day show a strong Motown influence. This is something Heidi acknowledges happily.

 

“During the summer we went to a Supremes exhibition – seeing all their costumes and the history of Motown and everything – and that kind of planted a little seed and we were like ‘We should definitely try some stuff in that style,’” she says.

 

It’s been suggested in some reviews of this album that Sugababes are hopping on the bandwagon of the post-Winehouse British pop-soul, but Heidi is much keener to acknowledge old school inspiration. “We’ve always loved old Motown music,” she enthuses. “That’s one type of music that the three of us are all into.” She does admit to being “a fan of Duffy” though, perhaps unsurprisingly given that one the producers who worked on Catfights And Spotlights is Steve Booker, who also worked on Rockferry.

 

Another of the new producers she mentions having worked with is Swede Klas Ahlund, best known for his work with Robyn and for co-writing Britney’s Piece Of Me. “I enjoyed working with Klas,” she raves. “He made us try lots of different styles of singing.”

 

One of Ahlund’s contributions is the terribly clever Every Heart Broken, a ballad built around an extended metaphor of heartbreak as murder. Indeed, the song originally had the more provocative title Murder One, a change Heidi says the girls didn’t decide on. ‘The record company thought it might be best to give it a different name,” she says, giggling, “even though it says ‘murder one’ in every single line.”

 

It’s a track that Heidi lists as one of her favourites on the album. I mention that it’s one of mine too, putting to her the question of why so many of the Sugababes’ best songs, like My Love Is Pink from their previous album Change, don’t seem to end up as singles.

 

“We were all desperate for My Love Is Pink to be a single and this is definitely one that we want to be a single. It is unfortunate sometimes that you feel like the best songs don’t get heard by people who wouldn’t necessarily buy the album, but I think we are planning for Every Heart Broken to be one.”

 

Heidi mentions having Kings of Leon on her Ipod at the moment, and I have to ask whether rock might be the next phase for the Sugababes. Never say never seems to be the upshot.

 

“We always try new sounds on every album anyway and we obviously have our favourite producers who we’ve worked with for years but if there’s somebody new that’s interested in working with us and we like their stuff then we’re always open to that.”

 

So, given the name of the album, who are the Sugababes having catfights with? It’s evidently not with Girls Aloud, Britain’s other biggest girl band.

 

“We saw them about two weeks ago at a music industry charity evening. We get on really well with them,” Heidi says warmly. “Keisha (Buchanan, last remaining original Sugababe) lives next door to Kimberley (of Girls Aloud), like literally next door, so they took a car home together after the awards.”

 

In naming the album “we were kind of just poking fun at what the press write,” Heidi says, referring to the extensive column inches that have been devoted to stories surrounding the departures from the trio first of Siobhan Donaghy (who Heidi herself replaced in 2001) and then of Mutya Buena (replaced by Amelle Berrabah in 2005).

 

“It’s always kind of followed the history of Sugababes saying we don’t get on and there’s catfights and this, that and the other, which is completely untrue and we just thought we’d make a bit of fun of it.”

 

With the stock answer out of the way, I note to Heidi that both Siobhan and Mutya are in fact thanked by Keisha on the liner notes for the new album. Does this mean that all the previous and current ‘Babes are on friendly terms?

“I’ve never really met Siobhan properly,” Heidi starts. “I met her once right when I first joined the band and she was a really nice girl.” Then, almost as a throw away: “I’ve not spoken to Mutya since she left.”

 

“It’s kind of hard. Mutya has a lot of personal problems and me and Keisha really tried to support her. Since she left she’s kind of come out and said things that are not true.”

 

Right, all chummy then…

 

“She never told me she was leaving and we were really good friends. She’s never contacted me since she left, so I’ve just never spoken to her since.”

 

She says the current line-up is “definitely” the happiest, but “to be fair we weren’t unhappy before. The only unhappy person was obviously Mutya but that was to do with personal things that we were trying to support her through.

 

“We were always good friends.”

 

I guess I won’t ask about the meaning of the track Can We Call a Truce?

 

Moving away from the ghosts of Sugababes past, Heidi says the current line-up, now promoting its second album together works because “we’ve all got the same goals for the band”.

 

So what are these goals then? Sugababes have had some minor attention in the US over the years with tracks like Hole In The Head crossing over a little from the dance charts. Given the cross-over potential of soul music (and the American success of Amy Winehouse and Estelle), does this new album suggest that a proper crack at the American market is beckoning?

 

“We’ve spoken about it. Obviously me and the girls would love to go over there if we were given the opportunity. We kind of just want to carry on with everything else and then if the opportunity comes up then obviously we’ll go for it.”

 

That’s quitters’ talk surely – not what I’m expecting after listening to them croon lines like “Monroe’s got nothin’ on me”. What about world domination?

 

“I don’t know about world domination. We’re just happy doing music that we like and that we enjoy performing. We’ll just see what happens.”

 

Oh very well. But with songs like My Love Is Pink, would they at least like to be considered gay icons?

 

“Oh yeah, definitely!” she laughs. “In the UK, one of the best venues to play is G.A.Y. That’s definitely one of our favourite venues to play. We love all of our fans and I’ve got a lot of gay fans. I know that a lot of our gay fans over here loved My Love Is Pink.”

 

That’s settled then, Heidi. Just don’t let me down with Every Heart Broken and we might be able to come to an arrangement.

 

 

 

Sugababes’ new album Catfights And Spotlights is out now through Universal Music.

 

 

 

Oooof! REALLY interesting find! Amused to read about Keisha living next door to Kim and interesting to see that Heidi is convinced EHB should be a single...

very interesting.

 

More so the fact that it is on an aussie website....

A very interesting read indeed

Great article, especially when she asked about why My Love Is Pink wasn't released. I always want interviews to ask artists what their favorite songs are on their current or past albums. But that question never comes up.

Lets hope no can do does well, otherwise they will no way release another single.