Taller In More Ways

Sound DNA

• Electronic

About

In the mid 2000s, it was customary for a pop band’s fourth release to be a greatest-hits package. But Sugababes—an act that, by this stage, was used to confounding expectations—refused to coast on former glories. Instead, 2005’s <i>Taller in More Ways</i> found the group members opting to broaden their influences. It’s an album that genre hops while sticking to Sugababes’ core tenets of being cool, credible, and catchy. Super-producer Dallas Austin—who’d worked with the likes of Madonna, Janet Jackson, and Gwen Stefani—is on hand for five of the album’s 12 tracks, including the lead single, “Push the Button.” It’s an insanely catchy invitation for a man to make the first move, one that boasts the kind of simple but effective melody to which ABBA had once laid claim. Elsewhere on the album, the hit “Ugly” takes lyrical inspiration from one of Austin’s biggest collaborations—TLC’s “Unpretty”—while “Gotta Be You” is a crunk-edged denouncement of media narratives that wouldn’t sound out of place on an Aaliyah album and “It Ain’t Easy” is a hard-edged homage to Depeche Mode’s “Personal Jesus.” <i>Taller in More Ways</i> also features production work from Xenomania, the hitmakers behind previous Sugababes singles “Round Round” and “Hole in the Head.” Xenomania contributes such crucial tracks as “Red Dress,” which features two storming choruses in one single, as well as the album’s highlight “Ace Reject.” This unconventional pop curiosity about a doomed relationship—“Every moment I’m frightened is/Had to erase all your messages”—teases the listener for a full two minutes before rewarding them with a killer chorus. Meanwhile, powerhouse songwriter Cathy Dennis, responsible for such smashes as “Can’t Get You Out of My Head” and “Toxic,” shares a cowriting credit on “Bruised,” which packs more hooks than a coat rack into a tune that barely crosses the three-minute mark. Founding member Mutya Buena would depart Sugababes midway through the promotion of <i>Taller in More Ways</i>, in order to spend more time with her daughter. She was replaced by Amelle Berrabah, who would appear on re-records of “Gotta Be You”—substituting, perhaps inadvisably, the lyric “Look at Mutya” for “Look at this slut”—as well as “Follow Me Home” and “Red Dress.” It would signal the end of Sugababes’ most successful lineup, with <i>Taller in More Ways</i> acting as a fitting denouement to a trio who had become one of Britain’s most unforgettable girl bands.

via Apple Music

Tracklist

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