This month I’m featuring my top 20 albums of the past decade, to celebrate 10 years of This Must Be Pop! Click here to see all the Decade of Pop posts so far.
My excitement for the return of the original Sugababes has nothing to do with the One Touch album – in fact, I never even owned it. Instead, the main reason I’m interested is because 1/3 of the band is Siobhan Donaghy, and the reason that matters is because of Revolution In Me. It’s a really beautiful, totally unique album, and because it stands alone in its own little genre it hasn’t aged at all. In the past few years there have been several new artists who’ve reminded me of Siobhan, and I’d be very happy if the MKS album sounded like this.
Siobhan has an unusual voice, and she does nothing to hide it in this album, instead accentuating her individuality. Sometimes quirky pop music has less emotional impact than more traditional commercial music, and what could be described as a smaller sound. Siobhan’s music isn’t epic or attention-grabbing, but it has real depth and meaning. Every song has an interesting story or original perspective, and there’s plenty of sing-along moments. I find Man Without Friends really rousing, while Iodine is one of my favourite alternative Christmas songs. If anyone ever questions the idea that girlband members can be cool, intelligent and truly talented, this album should surely eliminate any doubt.