April 11, 2001

Sugababes : Run For Cover

Sugababes release the strongest single yet from their brilliant One Touch album...

Q. How many Sugababes does it take to screw in a light bulb?

A. Three. But they screw it in themselves, unlike all those manufactured groups who just mime screwing it in or get people to screw it in for them.

Only they don't. They just have a truth-stretching press release that a whole host of ex-CBBC presenters, Radio One 'taste makers', and broadsheet music critics fell for. That, and their awkwardly nervous stage presence and inability to speak in sentences, has managed to convince an awful (really awful!) lot of people that the Sugababes are for real.

Well, real or not, 'Run For Cover' is Sugababes most accomplished single yet, with Cameron Mcvey's All Saints-honed production skills to the fore. It's still unlikely to close the gap between critical acclaim and actual units sold which is a shame. So far the music's not been allowed to speak for itself and maybe the record buying public don't like being told what's cool, and what's not, by Kate bleeding Thornton. They just don't believe the hype, yet.

Timothy Mark