Sweet 7 was the first album release since the controversial departure of original group member Kesha Buchanan. It peaked at #14 in the UK yet still managed to deliver 3 top 10 singles, a personal favorite “Get Sexy”, “About A Girl”, and “Wear My Kiss”. Promotion for the album  quickly fizzled after the release of third single “Wear My Kiss” so the girls could start work on the next project which we now know has given us the lackluster “Freedom”…

Moving on and the reason for this post, let’s talk about “She’s A Mess” and why it should have been a single from Sweet 7! The track begins with blazing synths and a bit of encouragement from a hype man calling “London, let’s go” before the Sugababes chime in and the beat drops. The girls start and you’re quickly led to believe that the track is just another “girls in the club” type of song but wait, what’s this? “She’s such a mess/up in that dress/she’s sweatin’ bullets/I’m not impressed” and just like that this electro club record takes the words out of your mouth, everyone runs into that “mess” or two up in the club every weekend and you’re now comforted with an anthem for the occasion.

To top things off, the usage of vocoder effects on their vocals for “bottle after bottle” and that moment when they command “everybody go mad, everybody go psycho” couldn’t be more perfect! It makes for that extra pinch of sass and fierceness deluxe that could have played out so well in the clubs had the label chosen to release the track as a single. “She’s A Mess” is truly one of the stronger moments on Sweet 7 in my opinion, only behind the smash lead “Get Sexy”. A real shame this song didn’t get the chance it so much deserved.

Listen to “She’s A Mess” below, what do you think?

Sugababes – She’s A Mess

The third studio album to be released from the original Idol Kelly Clarkson was critically panned as mainstream audiences failed to pick up on it’s lead single “Never Again”, and to make matters worse, it didn’t help that word got out Mr. Clive Davis disapproved of the entire album which Clarkson refused to change. I mean come on, this album had “Sober” and that was released to failure on the charts as well, there was just no saving this album with all the negative press surrounding it.

Luckily I approved and believe she did the right thing by releasing a record that she wanted to put out. After all, that’s what true artistry is all about. As much as I love a fun super-POP hook, the songs of My December reflected an alternative side to Clarkson and told a different story that gave me newfound respect for the songstress.

One track in particular was the ever so haunting ballad “Irvine”, which Clarkson stated she had written on a bathroom floor – naturally, talent like Kelly doesn’t need a big large studio for fulfillment. This song shapes and defines my memories of summer 2007, be it playing the song for all my hipster friends who hate POP and tricking them into admitting they love this only to find out it came from Kelly or blasting it on repeat as I laid in my living room with the lights off and the windows open on a hot Chicago summer night.

Listen to the beauty of “Irvine” below and revisit the tale of My December, it’s a good album people!

Kelly Clarkson – Irvine

This is the first of many “It Should’a Been A Single” posts to come, there are plenty of AMAZING POP songs out there that mainstream audiences or casual fans will never know of! Unusual You was penned by Christian Karlsson, Pontus Winnberg, Henrik Jonback, Kasia Livingston, and produced by Bloodshy & Avant(Toxic). It was also rumored to have been the fifth single from Circus, but obviously that never came to fruition. What was the label THINKING!!!??? This would have been so HUGE, just MASSIVE we tell you! Anyway, give the song a listen and prepare to give it up for BRITNEY SPEARS!