Keisha Buchanan - Gimme Pressure (2009)

Keisha Kerreece Fayeanne Buchanan was born on 30 September 1984 in Westminster, London, and first met and befriended future Sugababes member Mutya Buena in primary school. In May 1998, Siobhán Donaghy and Mutya Buena, both aged just 13, had been signed as solo artists, but decided to work together after performing at the same showcase. While working in the studio, Buena invited her best friend Keisha Buchanan to watch them, and their manager Tom decided the three girls would make a good trio, likening their different appearances to the United Colors of Benetton campaign. Originally dubbed the Sugababies, the group's name was tweaked to Sugababes when they were signed by London Records, and their debut single, 'Overload', peaked at number 6 on the UK Singles Chart in 2000, and was nominated for a BRIT Award for Best Single. The band's debut album, 'One Touch', was released later that year, and it peaked at number 26 on the UK Albums Chart, but despite the album producing three more top 40 hits, the sales of 'One Touch' did not meet London Records' expectations, and so they dropped the group in 2001. 

During a Japanese promotional tour in August 2001, Donaghy left the group, citing disagreement and in-fighting amongst the group's members, and she was replaced former Atomic Kitten member Heidi Range. Having already started work on a second album with new member Range, the trio looked for a new record label, eventually signing to Island Records, and their first single for them, 'Freak Like Me', scored the group their first UK number 1. On the back of this success, the group's second album, 'Angels With Dirty Faces', debuted at number 2 on the UK Albums Chart and was later certified triple platinum. The group's third album, 'Three', was released in late 2003 and reached number 3 on the UK Albums Chart, earning the group a BRIT Award nomination for Best Album, while the lead single 'Hole In The Head', became their third UK number 1. 2004 was a difficult year for the group, with alleged backstage catfights, and continuous rumours of in-fighting within the group and constant split reports. After a hiatus, Sugababes released their thirteenth single, 'Push The Button' in October 2005, and it was another number 1 hit for them in the UK, while its parent album 'Taller In More Ways' became the group's first UK number 1 album. 

Following an apparent illness that prevented Buena from promoting follow-up single 'Ugly', it was announced on 21 December 2005 that she had left the group, and Amelle Berrabah joined in late December. After a Greatest Hits Tour, Sugababes released 'Change', their fifth studio album, and the first to feature Berrabah on all tracks. 'About You Now' was released as the album's lead single in September 2007, and on its release  it became their sixth UK number one hit, and first Hungarian chart-topper. In October 2007, 'Change' became the group's second UK number 1 album, and following the Change Tour, the band returned to the studio to write and record tracks for their sixth studio album, the provocatively titled 'Catfights And Spotlights'. After the release of the single 'No Can Do', the group announced that there would be no 2009 tour in support of 'Catfights And Spotlights', as they wanted to focus on writing and recording material for their seventh studio album, 'Sweet 7'. They travelled to the United States to work on the record, and in April 2009 they signed a contract with Jay-Z's label Roc Nation, which gave them access to high profile producers. However, in September 2009 it was officially announced that Buchanan had left the group, being replaced by former Eurovision entrant Jade Ewen. 

Buchanan revealed on Twitter that it was not her decision to leave, resulting in some journalists describing her as having been "sacked", but public opinion was mostly positive for her, with Digital Spy running an article titled "Keisha Buchanan, We Salute You", in which they thanked her for her contribution to "incredible pop songs". Her first recording after leaving the group was a feature on Jay Sean's single 'Far Away', after which she began work on her debut solo album. She later revealed that she had recorded 50 tracks for the album as of August 2011, but considering that only a handful have leaked I think this was somewhat of an exaggeration. The album was initially supposed to be released in 2011, however according to Buchanan, "every time we lock down there's always someone else who wants to work with me", and so it has suffered constant delays, and is still yet to appear. Despite the fact that there are supposed to be around 50 songs recorded, only three have ever surfaced, and so in order to make up an album's worth of music I've added a few of those collaborations, plus the five tracks from Sugababes 'Sweet 7' album which featured her lead vocals, and which were wiped and re-recorded by Ewen when Buchanan left the group. 

Track listing

01 Under Control
02 No More You
03 Gimme Pressure
04 Whatever Makes You Happy
05 Dreamin' (feat. Political Peak)
06 About A Girl
07 Fearless
08 Wear My Kiss
09 Give It Up (feat. Asher D)
10 Wait For You
11 Anything's Possible (feat. Wayne Williams & J Gunn)
12 Miss Everything

Tracks 2, 6, 8, 10 & 12 are songs from Sugababes 'Sweet 7' album with Buchanan on lead vocals 

Mutya Buena - Addiction (2011)

Following her departure from The Sugababes in December 2005, Mutya Buena began working on her debut album after signing a solo deal with her previous label, Universal Island Records. The first single to be released in the UK featuring her vocals was a ballad duet with George Michael, titled 'This Is Not Real Love', which was released in November 2006 and reached number 15 in the UK. In early 2007 the title track of her debut solo album 'Real Girl' was released as a single and reached number 2 in the UK, as swell as receiving a BRIT Award nomination for Best Single. The album peaked at number 10 on the UK Albums Chart, while 'Song 4 Mutya (Out Of Control)', her collaboration with dance duo Groove Armada, was released in the UK in July 2007, and reached number 8 in the charts. The fourth release from the album, 'Just A Little Bit' stalled at number 65, and following a collaboration with Amy Winehouse on a re-working of the Ronettes' track 'Be My Baby', she was dropped by her record label in February 2008, who cited poor sales and charting positions from 'Real Girl' and her last two singles. While without a label, she featured on Asher D's second single 'With You', from his album 'Ashley Walters', as well as the Don-E track 'The Time Is Now', 'Fallin'' with Agent X, and 'Give Back' with Tah Mac. In October 2010, Buena expressed uncertainty about continuing in the music industry, and said she was currently training to become a psychologist for children, although despite this announcement, she teamed up with City Boy Soul and digitally released 'Be OK' in January 2011, as well as recording lead vocals for 'Give Me Love', penned by UK DJ/Producer Paul Morrell. In 2011 she released a demo on SoundCloud called 'All B4', and tweeted that a rumoured Sugababes reunion was not happening as she was working on her own stuff, which had fans speculating that a second solo album might be on the cards. However, in July 2012, it was officially confirmed that the original line-up of The Sugababes had reformed under the name Mutya Keisha Siobhan, and they were writing songs for a new album for Polydor, so any follow-up to 'Real Girl' was put on hold. A few tracks have since surfaced which were said to be intended for her second solo album, and if we add those to some of the collaborations that she recorded in 2008, plus a few out-takes from 'Real Girl' and a Live Lounge cover of 'Fast Car', there is enough material to put together a pretty good album, which could have followed 'Real Girl' if her label hadn't dumped her. 

Track listing

01 Addiction
02 Fallin' (feat. Agent X & Ultra)
03 Give Me Love (feat. Paul Morrell)

04 All B4

05 Dark Side
06 The Time Is Now (feat. Don-E)
07 With You (feat. Asher D)
08 If We Fall
09 Love Story
10 Fast Car  
11 To The Limit
12 Addiction (Reprise)

Sugababes - The Sacred Three (2014)

Sugababes were formed in 1998 by All Saints manager Ron Tom and Sarah Stennett, and the original line-up consisted of Siobhán Donaghy and Mutya Buena, who at age 13 had both been signed as solo artists, but decided to work together, plus Buena's best friend Keisha Buchanan. The group's debut single, 'Overload', peaked at number 6 on the UK Singles Chart in 2000 and was nominated for a BRIT Award for Best Single, and the group co-wrote most of the tracks on debut album 'One Touch', with the help of All Saints producer Cameron McVey. The album peaked at number 26 on the UK Albums Chart, but sales didn't meet London Records' expectations, and so they dropped the group in 2001. Despite their later success, releasing seven albums and numerous singles, some of which topped the UK charts, the name of the band has become a byword for the revolving door-like comings and goings of band members. During a Japanese promotional tour in August 2001, Donaghy left the group, later being diagnosed with clinical depression amid reports of in-fighting amongst the group's members, and she was replaced by former Atomic Kitten member Heidi Range. The band were surrounded by continuous rumours of disagreements within the group and constant split reports, and following an apparent illness that prevented her from promoting their single 'Ugly', Buena left the group in 2005, and was replaced by Amelle Berrabah. In 2009 it was reported that Berrabah had left the Sugababes, as she had missed a couple of promotional gigs, but it was Buchanan, the sole original member of the group, who was the next to leave, with Jade Ewen taking her place. In March 2010, former group member Mutya Buena applied to the European Trademarks Authority for ownership of the group's name, insisting on the application that "the Sugababes have ended" without a founding member still in the group. She was granted her application to use the name on paper, cardboard and stationery. In 2013, despite announcements that the group had been writing songs for their new album and hoped to release new music in 2014, in an interview published in September the previous year Ewen confirmed that the group had actually split two years earlier. In October 2011, several news outlets reported that the original line-up of the Sugababes would reform, and the following April it was reported that the line-up had signed a £1 million record deal with Polydor Records. In July it was officially confirmed that the group had reformed under the name Mutya Keisha Siobhan and were writing songs for a new album for Polydor, including two tracks written with Shaznay Lewis, former member of All Saints. The first glimpse of new material came to light in January 2013 when the group uploaded a short a cappella clip of their rumoured debut single 'Boys', and a couple of months later their producer Dev Hynes uploaded a track on his official SoundCloud page, stating that it would not feature on the group's forthcoming album, with 'Lay Down in Swimming Pools' being a reinterpretation of Kendrick Lamar's 'Swimming Pools (Drank)'. The first officially released song was the 'Flatline' single, which emerged in June 2013, but there then followed a three year silence with no sign of any more new music. In June 2016, at London Pride's Wandsworth Radio special, Donaghy announced that the album was due the following year, but by August 2017 there was still no sign of it, and Buchanan finally admitted in an interview that the group were working on new material after their previous work was leaked online. So with no possibility that the album will ever officially appear, here it is as recorded by the three artists who will forever be known to their many fans as Sugababes. 

Track listing

01 Victory
02 Back To Life
03 Fall From Grace
04 Today
05 Summer Of '99
06 Flatline
07 Love In Stereo
08 Boys
09 Metal Heart
10 I'm Alright
11 Up In Flames
12 Beat Has Gone
13 Too In Love
14 Great Escape
15 Love Me Hard
16 No Regrets
17 Back In The Day
18 Lay Down In Swimming Pools